A plan to roll out agency contracts has been put on pause by the new head of Stellantis UK to allow her time to rebuild the confidence and trust of its franchisees.
Delays and process issues have impacted dealers, including their bonus payments, as the company brought the former PSA UK, Vauxhall and FCA UK businesses together, and this left franchisee confidence at a low and many investors frustrated and combative.
It is bringing in the ICDP to moderate between the national sales company and its franchisees as it seeks to work out, together, how to make direct-to-consumer new vehicle sales work in the UK.
In the latest NFDA Dealer Attitude Survey every single Stellantis franchise – Vauxhall, Citroen, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, DS, Peugeot, Jeep – was rated as poor value and was fighting each other for the bottom of the ranking.
In September Maria Grazia Davino was sent in to bring her partnership-building skills to the fore, replacing Paul Willcox.
Her immediate job is “to build bridges”, she said. She explained it means bridges within Stellantis UK to standardise certain processes and systems across its many car and LCV brands, and bridges with its dealers who feel frustrated and prevented from making decent money.
She said she can’t fix dealer profitability in a month, but it will be better in the mid term.
“We distribute vehicles in the UK through dealers so this alliance is very important.”
Under Willcox’s plan, agency contracts would be rolled out soon to the group’s brands, starting with Alfa Romeo, DS and Jeep in 2024 and the volume brands to follow by 2026.
In light of the work to be done, Davino has “paused” that strategy and she says agency will happen for all brands at the same time, in 2026 at the earliest.
The intricacies of the UK mean there are details that need ironing out in the T&Cs, hence the need for the ICDP.
“I want to find the best balance in terms of operstions with the network. We have to do things right with a mutual benefit for the customer and all the parties.”