This is more profitable for everyone than daily registrations”

This is more profitable for everyone than daily registrations”

Automotive industry: How satisfied are you after the first three quarters? This time a year ago, Ford's market share overall, including cars and commercial vehicles, was seven percent.
Danijel Dzihic: We are currently at 6.5 percent. So that's 0.5 percent less than last year. We know that there are various means when it comes to approvals, including daily approvals, which we have been involved in for years. This year we consistently chose a different path, namely not to push daily registrations. Instead, we focus on private and corporate customers, and we are doing very well there. This year we effectively sold 1,000 more cars in the first three quarters. We measure this by the number of purchase contracts, which is the relevant size for us.

To what extent have you specifically reduced daily admissions?
In the first three quarters of this year we had three and a half thousand fewer cars than daily registrations on the market.
Reduction in daily registrations: Does this mean that it has also been taken into account that there will be a short-term decline in market shares? 
Of course that was taken into account. It means a loss of market share in the short term, but it also means - and this is the most important thing for me - more profitability for both us and the dealers. And you can also see from the figures that we are well on the way to achieving our medium-term goal of three percent dealer profitability.

A year ago, your dealers' return on sales was 1.37 percent; your goal is two to three percent within the next five years.
We are well on our way, we are close to it and want to reach two percent this year. Our clear objective is to establish our new strategy after this bridging year, in which dealers have reduced daily registrations and have to focus on a new business model: focus on private and corporate customers. This is more profitable for everyone than daily admissions. This is the only way our dealers will be able to make the investments necessary to advance the brand.

Keyword: Ford stores: What is the status quo here and how many partners are there?
We already have four established Ford stores in Austria that have already been implemented. These are: the car park in Innsbruck, the Blum car dealership in St. Pölten, the Reisinger car dealership in Graz and the new car dealership in Vöcklabruck from the Motormobil Group. The contracts for three others have been signed and are now in the implementation phase. We expect to have these additional three partners by March or April 2016. There are also Klagenfurt, Wiener Neustadt and another in Vienna. With these seven we are very well positioned, but we will still try to occupy the remaining metropolitan areas such as Linz and Salzburg.

What are the goals for next year? What market share do you want to achieve?
We want to consistently stay true to the goal of growing with private and corporate customers and inspiring new customers with the outstanding product range for the brand. Seven percent market share is definitely what the brand deserves and what our goal must be. 

Current models: Which developments are you satisfied with and which would be problem children?
 I would say that we don't have any problem children. It's always just a question of the expectations you have from your models. The Focus has met expectations so far, as has the C-Max. We are also very satisfied with the development of the new Galaxy and S-MAX. With Mondeo, I am of the opinion that there is more potential in the corporate customer sector. We'll step on the gas next year.

What measures will there be to position it better?
It's simple. We will encourage test drives to give people the opportunity to literally experience the Mondeo.
 
How is the Mustang doing, apart from the fact that it is a great image carrier?
The Mustang is, as you rightly say, an image carrier, but it also contributes a few cars to the registration figures. So far 170 have been sold and we expect that we will be able to sell the 200 units we were aiming for this year. 

Regarding the market in general: Will we achieve the magical 300,000 new registrations this year, or is this number a fetish anyway?
(laughs) I think the fetish will be achieved this year. It depends on what measures the individual brands take in the final spurt of the year. 

Let's move on to alternative drives. How are things going with the Mondeo Hybrid? 
Our credo is and remains: “Power of Choice”, meaning: the customer has the choice. So we don't commit to one drive technology. At the moment there aren't hundreds of cars for the Mondeo Hybrid, but still: some customers, especially in the taxi sector, have already ordered cars, are already driving them and are very satisfied. I think it will still take time before car manufacturers offer electric drives, namely in accordance with what the customer is willing to pay. When the time comes, we will be there.

But there is an interaction. Demand also depends on supply. 
Clear. But we think that we cannot currently sell our electric drives in Austria in sufficient quantities. When it comes to hybrids, we have a few models in our portfolio, and I think there is still a lot to be gained from the conventional drive. We have won the “Engineer of the Year” award for small engines three years in a row with EcoBoost technology.

How do you see the future of automotive retail? What does a retailer have to pay attention to these days?
You can't reinvent the wheel, you should follow trends carefully and not just follow the motto "I did it this way 30 years ago, so I'll do it the same way now, it has to continue to work." Standing still is devastating. 

How important is it that the retailer is digitally fit? 
The retailer must still, and perhaps even more than before, pay attention to the basics, i.e. read the customer's every wish in all matters and act accordingly. He must be a service provider. That's the foundation first. Apart from that, one should not ignore the trends such as: B. digitalization. Often only the risks are seen, but there are also many opportunities. Basically, you can see that those traders who anticipate trends and take paths earlier are often successful.

How is your dealer network currently structured?
We currently have a total of 70 dealer bases, consisting of authorized dealers and branches. Including the agencies and pure service bases, we come to around 200. 

What will the Ford dealer network look like in ten years – will there be fewer locations?
I don't believe. We have a very good network in terms of both coverage and performance. There is no need for any changes.