Renault Pro+ backing for Alaskan

Renault will expand its global light commercial vehicle brand, Pro+, across the majority of its Australian retail network in preparation for the arrival of its first one-tonne ute in 2017.

Pro+ is essentially the French car-maker's answer to Volkswagen Commercial and Fiat Professional in Europe, where Renault is the number one LCV brand with a strong following for its Kangoo, Trafic and Master van line-up.

So far in Australia (where Renault's slice of the 200,000 annual unit LCV sector is less than two per cent but growing, and 10 per cent of the 20,000-unit van sector), Pro+ is limited to just three metropolitan dealers in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

However, Renault Australia managing director Justin Hocevar said Pro+ will be dramatically expanded over the next few years and could eventually cover all of its Australian dealers.

The number of Renault dealers Down Under will expand from 50 currently to 52 or 53 by the end of this year, but after that the network will slow from its present rate of about 10 a year or one a month.

Presently all Australian Renault dealers sell light commercial vehicles, and all of them will also sell the Alaskan ute range. However, Renault will eventually rebrand all of its LCV outlets as Pro+ centres, which will offer an extended range of commercial vehicle services.

"We're moving towards Pro+ being Renault's primary LCV business," he said. "It's all about having the specialist products, the specialist services and the specialist expertise for light commercial customers.

"Renault will move away from 'see your local LCV dealer' to 'see your Pro+ outlet'. We'll have to phase it in – the focus will be on the larger metro dealers.

"Ultimately it will be all dealers that sell LCV – anywhere between 80 and 100 per cent of dealers."

Hocevar said Pro+ is not simply a rebranding exercise and that every dealer that represents the moniker will need to meet a number of strict global criteria and offer a range of services.

"It's far more than just branding," he said. "It's a different approach to specialist commercial vehicle sales and aftersales.

"We have to work with all of our dealers to make sure they fulfil the customer charter."

Hocevar said that charter would involve different operating hours for servicing, stocking requirements, sales and service staff training, tailored service plans, contracted converters and other business solutions.

"Dealers will need to be able to fulfil certain service requirements, there will be specific stocking policies, opening hours agreements, training of product specialists.

"We also put them on a platform called B Pro, which is like a social media for dealers. It will allow them to connect with other dealers globally, encourage converters to work with us and a range of other things."

Hocevar said Renault's LCV business will increasingly involve conversion companies including motor home, refrigeration, tipper tray, racking and disability vehicle builders.

"The conversion business is not straight-forward. There's many facets to a fully certified conversion – contracts, design rules, validation. Experts from Paris will visit their plants to ensure they meet global Renault certification standards.

Renault's LCV business already drives some customers toward its passenger models, but Hocevar says the Alaskan will allow his company to enter a lucrative new LCV segment that combines both passenger and commercial vehicle buyers.

"Alaskan will be the convergence of those two words – lifestyle passenger vehicle and workhorse," he said. "It brings us significant opportunities in a previously untapped arena for us."

Such is the importance of Australia's LCV market – the world's fourth largest – that Renault's Global Head of Light Commercial Vehicles, Ashwani Gupta, will head Down Under in coming months to visit the French car-maker's local operations.

As we've reported, the showroom version of Renault's inaugural one-tonne ute will wear the same name as the Alaskan concept, which is "95 per cent" production-ready.

The Alaskan wears new body panels from the windscreen forward but its interior won't be significantly different to the Nissan NP300 Navara on which it's based.

Like the Navara, it will be available with a range of body, engine and transmission variants, including a 140kW/450Nm 2.3-litre twin-turbo four-cylinder diesel engine, and Renault has promised best-in-class fuel economy and a payload of more than one tonne.

Pricing is a long way from being announced, but Renault's ability to position the Alaskan competitively alongside the array of new one-tonners released this year would receive a big shot in the arm if it was produced in Thailand alongside the Navara.

Renault has so far announced the Alaskan will be produced in Argentina, Mexico and Spain, but it's also considering Thai production for Asia and Australia, which would benefit from shorter supply lines and the Thai-Australia free trade agreement.

However, Renault executive vice president Jerome Stoll said the decision to add a fourth production site would not be taken lightly.

"We already have three – it is a lot," he said. "Four, it is becoming an additional burden and we have to get the volume for that, you know.

"It also depends on the strategy of our partner Nissan – whether they have room or not," he said. "It would be great to have it in Thailand, but..."

Right-hand drive production will begin in Spain initially, but Stoll said there is no guarantee the Alaskan will be made in Thailand.

"We are looking at the bases of production in order to make the car competitive, especially in Asia," he said.

"The interest in Thailand is that it is a right-hand drive production base and this makes sense for the rest of ASEAN and Australia.

"It makes sense, but we then also make sure Nissan can do that. Sometimes we seem like we are in competition. I do not believe that."