Jeep Gladiator the start of FCA comeback plan

The arrival of the Jeep Gladiator is the trigger for an aggressive and ambitious revival program at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Australia.

FCA Australia has been in the doldrums for more than five years, with three of the most troubled brands on the automotive landscape Down Under.

Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Jeep have charismatic cars and SUVs, but their reputation has been battered by poor quality and sub-standard support for owners in Australia.

Against that dismal backdrop, FCA Australia’s latest CEO, Kevin Flynn, is surprisingly optimistic and keen to talk as he unleashes a big-spending marketing program and a total strip-down and rebuild for the company’s local operations.

The Jeep Gladiator is key, so too is a new tagline ‘I’m in’ as part of the renewed ‘I bought a Jeep’ advertising campaign.

“There is a real, real change. The dynamics of the organisation have been turned on their head,” Flynn promises Carsales.

“The last four to five years have been decline and not growth. We’ve had to get into that and find out why.

“It was quite clear, as we got into that process, where the issues were lying. Fifty per cent of our challenges have come about on the basis that we haven’t had the level of infrastructure in after-sales and customer service that a company should have. I suppose it was attitudinal as well.”

Flynn’s own attitude is clear, and tracks right back to his early motoring days ‘on the tools’ in a Leyland factory in Britain in the 1980s.

To clear the dinosaur out of the room, he point-blank refuses to talk about future products or exact sales targets, even though Jeep executives previously stated that Australia is a 50,000-a-year market for the off-road icon.

“We do have an ambitious objective on volume, moving forward. But we’ll move towards that. If we reach for the stars and land on the moon, that’s fine,” he says.

“I’m never one for giving out the targets. It doesn’t achieve anything. It tells everyone in the automotive world our aspirations.”

Flynn’s work since he arrived in Australia from a previous post in India has been focussed on clearing the management ranks, simplifying processes, and ensuring ‘his’ people more accessible and accountable.

“We’ve really created a very dynamic and determined group of people. They are proven specialists.”

“We have a new director of sales, a new director of marketing and a new director of after-sales. The chief financial officer was already new.”

Flynn talks in broad terms of a three-phase plan to restore buyer confidence and roll out cars that will be more than just tin boxes.

“We actually needed to put together a recovery plan. I got full approval for what we needed to do. There was a real desire, and it still remains, to see Australia in its position with FCA where it should be.

“It doesn't compute to be sitting around one per cent share in this market, when SUVs are the growing flavour, and we're the globe’s expert in that field.

“If ever there was going to be a fit, with Jeep and the rest, Australia is it. You’ve got to say, for us to have created this void took some effort.”

The void he describes is reflected in sales, but cuts deeper to a lack of trust with shoppers and owners.

“I think 80 per cent of the issue is in after-sales, the whole after-sales arena. There was a massive void.

“And one of the things we’ve really focussed on was putting the right structure in place. We are ready to jump on anything that happens.

“We’ve put into the field four flying doctors. Their sole role is to jump on problems. So we’re always learning and getting ahead of the game.

“We need to head things off at the pass. We are dealing with things as they come up. Alarm bells go off earlier so we can respond.”

Flynn says FCA is spending big to get the new message into the marketplace, using everything from advertising and dealer support to social media.

“There are three phases to this plan. Internally we call it the Recovery Plan, but that’s a little bit normal.

“Next month it will be breaking big time. Then you will get a sense of where we’re going. I’m super-excited about it.”

Flynn’s personal engagement was hit hard by COVID-19 lock-downs but he completed 30 dealer visits and has plans to hit the road again to spread the new message.

“I want it to have more substance. I want it to have a real meaning and a real fit. It needs to be more special and more of a relationship than the buying of a commodity.”

That includes three operational groups – Jeep, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and motorhome chassis – to handle the brands and rebuilding their sales numbers.

“I’m creating dedication. I don’t want Alfa and Fiat to be a conversation you have on the end of a Jeep meeting. We’ve now started to separate the brands, also, in the retail channel.”

It’s easy for Flynn to flip back to glib slogans, and he does, but there is an intensity that has been missing from FCA.

“We’ve got to be proud. When you’ve got these brands that are well over 100 years old there is a certain responsibility. You’re standing on the shoulders of giants.

“They deserve their place. And they are innovative.”

Flynn knows nothing in Australia will be quick or easy, but he believes the fuse has been lit.

“I’m not a flash in the pan. I’m not here for two years and then gone,” he says.

“I haven’t got a timeframe on it. But I definitely want it fixed and I definitely want to enjoy it. I have a dogged, don’t-give-up type of attitude. I enjoy the small victories.

“That is my absolute focus. Whatever duration that is, that’s absolutely fine by me.

For Flynn, his top priority at FCA Australia, and how it is measured, is simple.

“It’s rebuilding trust. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”