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ISSUE: q406
01/11/2006
Nissan dealer aims for number one slot
Nissan distributor CFAO Zambia has set its sights on becoming the country’s number one car dealer and is planning to expand its network countrywide.
The ambitious brand positioning strategy follows a US$2 million investment in the CFAO Zambia since it was established in October 2000 by French group Pinault Printemps Redoute (PPR), a company which also owns luxury brands including Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent.
“During the past five-and-a-half years the company has concentrated on two main objectives, one to firmly establish the company within the motor vehicle industry in Zambia and secondly to re-establish the name and reputation of the Nissan brand whose market share had shrunk to 6 percent in 2000,” explained the company.
“Over the years CFAO has made considerable headway in both these areas,” it added.
Since then the company has grown from nine employees at start-up to more than 90 employees. It has headquarters in Lusaka, where a new showroom is under construction, and a branch in Kitwe with a showroom, service workshops and parts outlet.
The company also operates a bonded warehouse and usually has more than 100 vehicles in stock at any one time, helping to respond quickly to customers’ demands for delivery.
CFAO’s models include Nissan Patrol, Nissan Hardbodies, trucks, 1400s and the soon-to-be-launched Tiida, sourced from Japan, Spain and South Africa. Since its inception CFAO has sold more than 2,500 new Nissan vehicles, including 700 last year alone, and the forecast for this year is more than 800 units which will give Nissan an overall market share of well over 30 percent, said the company.
At the end of July 2006, 1,377 new vehicles were imported from South Africa of which 564 were Nissans, giving CFAO a share of over 40 percent, it added.
A back-up service is considered an important area of additional customer service, and mechanics have recently been sent to South Africa on a training course.
CFAO boasts three customer-focussed marketing tools: CLIO (Client Obsession), which looks at handling the customer and the obsession to always give good quality service; NSSW (Nissan Sales and Service Way) which sets the standard on how service is delivered to a customer; and N-CAM (Nissan – Competitive Advantage Map) this helps the company know where they are and were they are going, and the company is guided accordingly.
PPR chief executive François-Henri Pinault visited Zambia recently and explained the group’s curious combination of cars and luxury clothes.
“PPR is above all a state of mind: a commitment and a desire for action. With daring and a sense of risk, PPR invests both finance and energy in its different businesses, in pursuit of the same objective: to develop its activities and become the leader. This demanding actor imposes a strong culture of growth and performance on each of its brands and companies,” he said.
“PPR is pursuing a strategy of organic growth with an international focus. This applies in particular to CFAO which has great potential for development. Organic growth is a reality and a permanent challenge for CFAO which still has many new areas to conquer,” he added.
Date: q406
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