Specialty Vehicle Manufacturers & Products Get Special Attention in GM Fleet and Commercial Operations
Separate Group within FCO Facilitates Upfitter/Dealer/Customer/Company Interaction
In the fleet and commercial truck business, incremental sales are the name of the game. And while having a wide range of reliable, well-engineered products can make selling against the competition easier, the fact of the matter is that in today’s marketplace, niche-market sales don’t “just happen” – they are made. It takes a deep knowledge of the specialty vehicle manufacturing business, a commitment to dealer information and training, strong marketing programs and interactive company support to turn market opportunity into market share.
That’s precisely what’s happening at General Motors, whose growth in the fleet and commercial market over the past few years has been unprecedented. In fact, recent R.L. Polk registration data show that GM now holds the largest market share in the business-to-business industry, outpacing its competitors by more than 10,000 units by the end of 2001. Part of GM Fleet and Commercial Operations’ (FCO) success is due to its focus on each specific area of the commercial-use business – and to having its very own Specialty Vehicle Manufacturers & Products group to help all those incremental sales happen.
From GM’s perspective, there are two basic kinds of specialty vehicles – recreational or commercial. Recreational vehicles include personal-use applications such as conversion vans and motor homes. Commercial vehicles include high-cube trucks for delivery, dump and stake trucks for the landscaping market, as well as ambulance, shuttle bus and school bus applications. Generally, sales are handled through traditional dealership business with the exception of motor homes, bus products and ambulances, which are sold to the end user through outside distributors.
Dave Spence, director of GM Specialty Vehicle Manufacturers & Products group, sees his team more as facilitators – “a link in GM’s sales and marketing chain” – for getting GM-sourced specialty vehicles to market. “Our job centers around making life easier for the Specialty Vehicle Manufacturers (SVMs) in the upfitting process,” Spence says, “and with sales to the dealers and retail and fleet customers.” Although that may make the group’s goal sound simple, it actually involves many steps along the way.
Much of the interaction process with SVMs must take place during the design and engineering of each new fleet and commercial product, as the upfitters’ input may be critical in helping to make the vehicle easier and less expensive to convert into a specialty vehicle. The group must therefore help integrate the needs from a variety of SVMs into the vehicle design process – then help the SVMs and GM’s core commercial dealers to turn those improvements into added value for the customer.
When it comes to SVMs, Spence says his group’s mission is to “provide a business climate to persuade them (the upfitters) to build on our product.” As a credit to the team’s success, Spence admits that, “We’re viewed as partners.” But much of the work comes on the sales and marketing side as well. The development and maintenance of dealer programs to support the distribution of these products in the marketplace keeps the team working on both sides of the specialty vehicles business at once.
For example, 2002 marks the 10-year anniversary of Chevrolet’s Commercial Customer’s Choice Program, which provides complimentary or specially discounted upfit packages, cash reimbursements or even professional-grade DeWalt power tools tailored for a customer’s specific needs. On the GMC side, the Fit For Profit program offers the same upfit equipment or partial reimbursements – or customers may choose a wide variety of goods by simply opting for a $500 Home Depot Gift Certificate. In either case, Chevrolet and GMC has a program in place to help satisfy nearly any commercial use requirement.
“The needs of the commercial customer are special, so our group works with a dedicated ‘wholesale business’ staff,” says Jim Brieske, manager of pool accounts for GM’s Fleet and Commercial Operations (FCO). “From product training, to promotion and servicing, our role of ‘coaching’ dealers and SVMs plays a big part in their ability to be competitive.
No matter the type of specialty vehicle – even police, limousine and “mobility” fleet buyers – GM’s Specialty Vehicle Manufacturers & Products group can deliver any number of programs to help any Specialty Vehicle Manufacturer or dealer gain a competitive sales advantage. After all, “delivering more” is what GM’s FCO is all about – because there’s no other business like yours.
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