International Motors, the independent importer of Subaru and Isuzu, took over UK distribution of Daihatsu back in January 2000 and since that time has struggled, with a lack of new models, to grow annual sales much above 4,500 units a year.
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However Paul Tunnicliffe, recently appointed managing director, thinks the fully redesigned five-door Sirion supermini which goes on sale this month will enable International to reach overall sales target of 6,000 units for Daihatsu this year.
And he hopes a new range of Terios mini-SUVs next year will help take the brand to 10,000 units a year by 2008.
“We see our future growth driven by new models,” Tunnicliffe said this week at the Geneva Motor Show as the revamped Sirion made its European debut. In the UK the base 1.0S model will be priced at £6,995 and the 1.3S at £7,795. SE models start at £7,695 and range up to £9,195 for the automatic variant.
“We expect to sell around 3,000 new Sirions this year which equates to 50% of our total sales. This coupled to the run-out programme we have for the current Terios four wheel drive models, which we recently reduced by £2,000, should see us reach our target of 6,000 for this year” Tunnicliffe added.
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By GlobalData“The new Terios we are introducing next year is about half as big again as the current model and it comes with a 1.5-litre petrol engine. We expect to sell 3,500 of these in 2006” he said.
“We have to grow our UK sales but not at any cost. Although the profit margins are slim on our cars we and our dealers are not in the business to lose money. Growing UK sales volumes is linked to receiving new models and we have expanded our UK dealer network by 40 last year. We now have 125 throughout the UK and we think we should expand this figure still further, say to 140, for us to reach the 10,0000 units a year sales target in future.
“Our customers are usually over 50 years of age, we call them ‘bright greys’ as they are typically the type of people who generally want the better things in life, they know value for money when they see it, they are slightly better off, they want quality sales and service and they want a dealership near to where they live. Retail customers tend to buy locally so having a good coverage of Daihatsu dealerships is important.
“In the main our customers are couples and they use their Daihatsu model as their main car although some are the ‘second car’ of course. We listen to our customers and the new Sirion models reflect their comments and input. For instance air conditioning is a priority for them, both Sirion models have it fitted as standard and they have ABS braking, radio and CD player, four electric windows, central locking and power steering.”
Tunnicliffe said advance orders suggests that 60% of buyers of the new Sirion are opting for the 1.3 S model. Both engines are very fuel-efficient and have the lowest levels of CO2 emissions making them cheap to run and with the lowest level of road tax.
The Daihatsu UK chief noted that ‘retail customers’ (i.e. private rather than fleet buyers) in this sector are currently not attracted by diesel engines as the fuel economy offered by the latest petrol units, up to 64mpg, means that the extra cost of buying a diesel engine car plus the extra cost per litre od diesel fuel makes them unviable at typical average annual mileages.
“However next year it is likely we will add an advanced diesel engine to the range for those who want it,” he said.
“The cars substantially undercut the Ford Fiesta in price and due to their clever interior use of space and high equipment levels they compete in the next class up of superminis,” Tunnicliffe claimed.
The new Sirion models have been designed and developed in conjunction with Daihatsu’s parent company Toyota and they use the same floorpan and body architecture as the redesigned Toyota Vitz/Yaris/Echo recently launched in Japan.
Toyota sells its own version of the Sirion in Japan.
