How are fleet manufacturers meeting the challenges of Covid-19? Vauxhall responds

In May and June, Fleet News surveyed all the major manufacturers to find out how they were responding to the coronavirus pandemic, how they are supporting their fleets customers and their views on the type of impact it would have on the fleet sector.

The resulting article was published in the June edition of Fleet News.

Here is Vauxhall's response.

Fleet News spoke to James Taylor, Vauxhall general sales director (answers as at 12/5/20)

How are you and your team staying operational in times of Covid-19?

Vauxhall continues to operate a reduced fleet sales team, all of whom are working remotely with full accessibility and availability. Our teams continue to keep in regular contact with our customers through traditional phone and email availability as well as the use of Skype video calling where required.  

What action are you taking to support fleets during the Covid-19 crisis?

Our team remains on hand to deal with any fleet customer enquiry, including sales and after sales support. The Vauxhall website has been updated, ensuring any prospective customer is directed to those individuals best placed to deal with their enquiry as indicated in the links attached. Our specialist fleet retailers remain open and available for all key workers

What proportion of your retail network remained open for SMR business during lockdown?

Over 50% of our network remained open throughout this period.

Will Covid-19 have a bigger and longer lasting impact on our industry than the financial crisis in 2008? Please explain your view.

It’s certainly serious, see the market declines in March, April and May. However, the UK Government has been quick to provide much needed support to UK businesses, for which we are very grateful. We have started limited production in one of our plants, principally to satisfy export demand.

How much of a decline in total market fleet sales are you forecasting this year?

30% to 40% fleet car and 20% to 30% fleet CV.

Please outline your exit strategy and how you believe the way business is carried out in future might change – the so-called ‘new normal’.

The way we have managed our business over the last two months has taught us new ways of operating remotely, these learnings will carry on going forward. Our company will change to adapt this new environment with much more home working

How soon do you think fleet sales will recover after the coronavirus threat is over?

Expectation is that fleet sales will recover but this may take some time before we get back to the levels seen prior to Covid-19.

Will we experience a break on the development of MaaS and fleet electrification?

Vauxhall remains committed in continuing to develop its portfolio of electric vehicles, building upon the New Corsa-e with the introduction of the New e-Vivaro which is available from June.