The glory days of Euro '88 were recalled at the official launch of Skoda dealer Pilsen Auto's new purpose-built premises at the M50 Business Park in Dublin's Ballymount a few weeks ago. On hand to reminisce with customers at the event were Irish football royalty John Aldridge, Tony Cascarino and Kenny Cunningham, who were aided and abetted by broadcaster Des Cahill who performed MC duties on the night.
"With the Euro 2016 tournament just around the corner we wanted to hold an event which would celebrate Ireland's achievements over the years," says Pilsen Auto general manager Mick Kenny. "It was a fantastic night of sporting banter."
The new €2.6 million, 10,000sq ft premises is the biggest Skoda dealership in Ireland, according to Kenny. "We have space for all the products under one roof. It's as if you made it in a factory and dropped it here."
Split equally between the sales showroom and the service and parts departments, the new building has allowed for significant expansion in recent months. “We had eight employees in the old building near here and we now have nearly 30 and are still growing,” says Kenny. “I joined the company last year with a view to building a strong team and that’s what we have now.”
Business has been very good since the move. “At a national level Skoda sales are well up year on year and here at Pilsen we are up 25 per cent on last year for retail sales to personal customers while corporate business is up by 100 per cent.”
This stellar performance reflects the improving economy but is also due to innovation on Skoda’s part. “Businesses are changing their fleets again and that is good for business, of course,” Kenny notes. “But the new Superb and Octavia ranges have proved enormously popular with fleet buyers. Companies which had always gone with another marque are now looking at Skoda and they are liking what they see.”
Kenny believes the new Superb can compete against the very top executive cars and put his money where his mouth is with a fairly unusual promotion where customers were invited to visit the showroom in April to judge the car against a new BMW 5 series.
“The new Skoda Superb has been compared by the motoring press with some of the world’s leading premium brands so we thought it would be a good idea to let our customers see for themselves. The reaction was great. We got more than 7,000 hits on our website as a result of the promotion and people were able to see that the standard of equipment on the Superb is actually better than on the BMW 520.”
He sees the Superb as the flagship which is leading the current sales surge for Skoda in this country.
"The new Superb is just a fantastic car and it has brought new customers to us. Audi and BMW drivers are looking at Skoda now because of it. The perception of Skoda has changed dramatically as a result of its specifications and styling.
“We are now seeing people who might have bought a BMW, Audi or Mercedes before 2010 coming to us and saying that they don’t see why they should do that now when they can get a Superb for up to €20,000 less.”
The Skoda armoury is set to be beefed up still further shortly with the addition of the Skoda Kodiaq SUV later this year. “We already have the Fabia, the Yeti, the Octavia and the Superb covering most of the main market segments and the Kodiaq will allow us to compete in the SUV segment against cars like the Audi Q7 and the BMW X5.”
While new car sales are of course important, he says used car sales and aftercare are the “lifeblood of the business”.
“If someone comes in to look at a new vehicle we have what they are looking for, of course. But a used car is different. A customer will come in and look at a particular car on site. The aftercare on the vehicle is particularly important to them. We can offer them the peace of mind that they are getting a Skoda approved used car with a warranty of up to two years and a great support service to go with it. Our customers are tremendously loyal to us and that loyalty is due to the quality of our service and of the team here. People buy from people they like and that is a huge part of our success.”
The availability of finance is also of key importance. "We are very lucky to have the support of VW Bank, which operates as Skoda Bank for us, and that enables us to make finance available for our customers very quickly. A customer can come in here in the morning and drive out in their new car a few hours later with all of the finance and so on sorted out – as long as we have the vehicle in stock of course."
With the customisation options now available to new car customers that will not be the case in most instances. “Skoda offers customers the ability to personalise and customise their new car,” he explains.
“That’s not unusual for the VW group but is not widely available on the market. Customers can get exactly what they want in terms of colour, interior specs, styling and so on. We have a dedicated area of the showroom here with a 52-inch screen where they can go through the options with a member of the sales team or they can go online to skoda.ie and do it from home if they wish.”
Looking to the future, he believes Pilsen Auto and Skoda will exceed the growth levels achieved in the year to date.
“There is no such thing as a bad car on the market any more,” he says. “It is very competitive out there and you have to be able to offer real value for money, excellent products and top quality service and aftercare.
“You also have to be able to offer attractive financial options such as personal contract purchase to meet customers’ needs. I think we are well positioned in all of these areas and that’s what will drive our growth in the year ahead.”
