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After 27 years at Peugeot and Citroën joined Opel: Xavier Duchemin has been Managing Director Sales, Aftersales and Marketing since August 2018.
“Our portfolio is very attractive – that’s the key to selling more cars.”
Mr Duchemin, after 27 years with Citroën and Peugeot, you are now Head of Sales and Marketing at Opel and for the first time working for a German car manufacturer. What does that mean for you? This is a very exciting task. I’ve always had a lot of respect for the German car brands and it’s great to see Opel under the umbrella of Groupe PSA. At Opel, we have fantastic products, a great tradition – and a lot to do.
At the Town Hall Meeting here in the Adam Opel House in Rüsselsheim, you presented yourself very sympathetically in the best German and surprised many employees. Why do you speak German so well? I learned German at school. But that was a few years ago (laughs). About 15 years ago, as managing director of Citroën, I spent two years in Vienna. If you live in a country and want to understand it, it is always important and beneficial to be able to speak the language. I like Germany, the lifestyle as well as the people and like to spend my holidays in Bavaria or in the Black Forest.
What is your impression of Rüsselsheim and Opel? I find it unique how the city and the region grow together with Opel. When you go out on the street, you see and feel Opel everywhere. And the cars convince with excellent comfort and great technologies. The LED matrix light, the heated steering wheels, the EGR seats – we have great features. I’m a big fan of the Insignia and so regularly between Rüsselsheim and Paris on the road – on the German side usually a little faster than in France (laughs).
If the package is right, why do not we sell more cars across Europe? In parallel with the introduction of the new models, we have had to make many decisions to make the company profitable again. We do not do unprofitable business anymore. We have reduced the daily allowances and are in the process of renegotiating the contracts with our dealers. In September, our market share rose again, in some countries even more clearly. We were the number one brand in Europe and had a market share of more than ten percent in Germany. One of the main reasons for this increase is that we have WLTP-certified our entire portfolio in good time. We were able to fully deliver vehicles beyond September 1, when the new measurement process became mandatory. In contrast to many of our competitors who were simply not “WLTP-ready” at the time and still are not. One thing is clear: our portfolio is very attractive – this is the crucial basis for selling more cars.
Then tell us a bit about the portfolio of the future … We will once again step on the gas pedal in the implementation of the product offensive, paying particular attention to the ambitious European CO2 targets that will apply from 2020 onwards. From the beginning of 2019 until the end of 2020, we will launch a total of eight completely new or revised models. We focus on profitable high-volume segments and will have one of the latest portfolios of all volume manufacturers. As announced in the PACE! Plan, at least one completely new model comes out every year. Next year is the Corsa’s turn. I’m looking forward to it. This is going to be a great car!
And what about electromobility? Here, too, things are progressing very swiftly. Already next summer, the order books for the all-electric version of the Corsa and for the Grandland X will open as a plug-in hybrid, which rolls off the line in Eisenach. By the end of 2020, Opel will have a total of four electrified models on offer. They will provide a lot of driving pleasure and help to boost the demand for e-vehicles. By 2024, each of our models will also be available in an electrified version. But let us be sure: We will continue to work very intensively on our internal combustion engines and make them even more efficient.
Would like to implement the PACE! Strategy plan consistently: Xavier Duchemin works with the marketing colleagues on the successful and sustainable turnaround of Opel.
VITA
Xavier Duchemin is since August 1, 2018 Managing Director Sales, Aftersales and Marketing of Opel Automobile GmbH. Prior to that, from March of that same year, as Executive Director Sales, he had the opportunity to become acquainted with the distribution of Opel / Vauxhall in Europe.
The graduate of HEC Business School in Paris has been working in various responsible positions in sales and marketing at Groupe PSA since 1991.
From January 2017, Xavier Duchemin was Managing Director of PSA Retail, previously Managing Director of Peugeot France, Marketing Director of Citroën worldwide and CEO of Citroën in the United Kingdom and Austria.
How important are our dealers for the turnaround? Very important. The dealers are virtually the face of our brand and often the first point of contact for our customers. We have just informed our partners from all over Europe in a three-day large-scale event in Rüsselsheim about our strategy, our future cars and the future path of our brand. We have had very good feedback and I am sure that we all pull together, because only together can we achieve our goals, especially in terms of customer satisfaction. Every single salesperson must be absolutely convinced of our products and our common path to a successful future. Opel is a strong brand, we have attractive products and of course we want to communicate that as well.
How do you doubt dealers and customers that Opel remains a German brand under the umbrella of Groupe PSA? By convincing her. The Groupe PSA has finally bought a German brand as a supplement to the French brands. Our CEO Carlos Tavares has said very clearly: we do not need another French brand. That was and is the reason. Opel is German and will show it in the future in a unique way.
What is the focus in the coming months? We must continue to increase our market shares. These are too low in many countries, such as Sweden, Norway or France, where we aim to regain a 5 percent market share by 2020/21. We will do “German Days” at the dealers in Europe, after all, we are proud to be a German brand with German technology. And as such, of course, we also want to be more successful in our home market. In September we were already on the right path, the result should give us momentum.
What role do light commercial vehicles and the new Opel Combo play in this? In general, we still have a lot of room for light commercial vehicles. Therefore, the new combo is a very important car for us. He recently won the International Van of the Year, the most important light vehicle award ever. This title can be an important marketing element for the combo. Here we will invest properly. In addition, the new Vivaro will be launched in 2019; the new van will give us another boost.
How satisfied are you with the combo launch? The dealer premiere in Germany on September 29th was promising, the media coverage in Europe is positive and we already have a lot of orders in some countries. The basis for success is laid.
The discussion about the diesel overlays many good product news. How do you deal with that? We can only make it clear again and again: we have no inadmissible defeat devices, our cars comply with the applicable regulations. And we are active: For certain diesel models of Zafira Tourer, Cascada and the previous generation Insignia of the years of construction 2013 to 2016 runs a voluntary service action. Initially around 31,200 vehicles were affected in Germany, more than 22,000 were already converted by Opel as part of this campaign – that is, there are still 9,000 vehicles that need to receive a software update. The company has done everything to implement this implementation quickly.
Extensive interview with the Opel Post: Xavier Duchemin talks about the current diesel discussion, the future portfolio and his personal interest in historic vehicles.
“We will soon be introducing new electric and hybrid powertrains that are very sporty and powerful.”
In addition, like many other manufacturers, you are offering special offers for drivers of older diesel cars. What is behind the offer? The best solution for reducing vehicle emissions is a speedy fleet renewal. That’s why we have introduced a special environmental bonus of up to 8,000 euros. Owners of older diesel vehicles of all makes of the Euro 1 to Euro 4 emission standard can benefit from this premium. Prerequisite is the delivery and scrapping of the old diesel vehicle. In addition, the premium applies to the trade-in of Euro 5 models of the Opel brand for customers with a place of residence or company headquarters in particularly polluted regions when a new Opel vehicle is purchased. I think that’s a great way to help customers transition to the latest and most efficient Opel models.
In advertising, we have recently neglected the classic volume models such as Corsa, Astra and Insignia something. Will we change that? Yes, we are working with the team of Tobias Gubitz; He is our man for marketing communication. Together we formulated a few golden rules to strengthen our traditionally most successful models – Astra, Corsa and Insignia. In the UK, for example, our flagship is the leading car in its segment, number two in Germany and third in Europe. Not bad – but there is something else. We also want to further promote our light commercial vehicles. For this we need a good communication plan; we will carry out marketing measures country-specific.
Groupe PSA CEO Carlos Tavares is known to be a big motorsport fan. Will Opel revive its long-standing motorsport tradition soon? For financial reasons, unfortunately, we had to reduce our activities in motorsport in recent years. But it would be very important for the brand if we become more active again in the medium term – for example in customer sport.
Let’s stay with sporty models. We currently have the Insignia GSi and the Corsa GSi in our portfolio. Are there any plans to bring more such models to the market? We still have to wait. We will soon introduce new electric and hybrid drives that are very sporty and powerful. Incidentally, we got excellent feedback on the Corsa GSi. I last tested it myself at the international press launch in Alsace – top! He is really fun.
Would you call yourself a “Car Guy”? My interest in cars has always been great. For example, for a few years I had a Citroën SM, a 70s sports coupe with a Maserati V6 engine. Excellent! Generally I find historical vehicles very interesting. The collection of Opel Classic has therefore impressed me very much. There I learned a lot about the tradition and history of Opel.
If you had the choice between a 1955 Citroën DS, a 1955 Peugeot 403 or an Opel 1950s captain – which would you take? Three wonderful cars, but for me it would be the captain, quite clearly. May I cheat something? Preferably in the convertible version of Hebmüller from 1940. The shape is beautiful, it’s a fantastic car – but there are, I believe, only two copies worldwide.
Hope-bearer: With the Grandland X, which rolls off the assembly line as a plug-in hybrid in Eisenach in 2019, Xavier Duchemin wants to further shake up the SUV segment.
October 2018
Interview: Roland Korioth, Maximilian Köhling; Photos: Opel