Paragon wins Kia deal worth up to £115m

Kia Motors UK has turned to Paragon to support its supply chain as it seeks to sell 100,000 cars a year in the UK by 2020.

It awarded Paragon two new contracts to support both new car storage and preparation, and defleet storage and preparation. The 10-year deal is worth up to £115 million.

The contract will see new vehicles handled through Paragon’s operation in Immingham, North East Lincolnshire. The operation will receive significant investment to redevelop and extend facilities.

Ian Carlisle, chief executive officer of Paragon, said: “We have placed innovation at the heart of our partnership with Kia. Paragon is investing in new technology and talent to ensure that it can deliver improved efficiency and smarter solutions for its customers.

“We continue to expand our operation to offer the scale and flexibility that leading manufacturers need in a robust partnership, developing an integrated solution for new and used vehicles that will use the latest technology to drive efficiencies across all processes.”

Brian Steeds joins Paragon as operations director to lead a dedicated management team that will be put in place to ensure operational efficiency and high levels of customer service.

Paragon works with manufacturers to provide the full suite of new vehicle services, including customs formalities and storage, along with volume processing, standard fitment of UK market required items and specialised vehicle conversions.

Awais Ajmal, head of supply chain for Kia said: “We have ambitious plans for Kia over the next decade and it was important to find a supply chain partner who shared our vision.

“Paragon has a commitment to innovation and efficiency that sits at the heart of this contract.”

The Paragon Group is a privately owned business that provides a range of used vehicle support services to vehicle manufacturers and fleet operators. It operates a fleet of 110 transporters and 150 single move drivers to ensure nationwide logistics coverage.

All its sites have the capability to prepare, defleet and remarket vehicles. In total the business occupies 12 sites with in excess of 390 acres of storage and 630,000sq ft. of vehicle processing facilities. Each year Paragon handles over 750,000 vehicles of which over 460,000 are new.