Citroën - Berlingo Market -

CITROËN AUSTRALIA

THE BERLINGO MARKET

Majestic Wines Berlingo The sub-$20,000 commercial vehicle market offers a limited range of vehicles, with either the small traditional commercial vehicle, such as the Suzuki Carry van, or the European sourced car-derived van, such as the Holden Combo, which is a bubble back version of the Holden Barina.

The Citroen Berlingo slots into the market offering the best features of both without the negatives. Its key advantages are:

Larger than class average payload and load area
Homogenous styling
Strong positive image and style for users
Class leading handling, roadholding and ride quality.
Purpose designed and built, rather than a converted car.

Unlike Australia, where this sector is in its infancy, the van segment in which the Berlingo competes is the second biggest commercial vehicle market in Europe. Annual sales total approximately 300,000 units per annum.

THE BERLINGO CUSTOMER PROFILE

Van owners tend to be people in active employment.

Customers can be split into two main segments: “user-decision makers” and “non-decision-makers”.

The first category is primarily comprises of craftsmen, shopkeepers and small and medium sized businesses; the second mainly comprises fleet managers in big companies and government offices.

Customer expectations vary.
“User-decision-makers” place the emphasis primarily on comfort, ergonomics and looks, although they also study size-to-price ratio and economy of use. Their vehicle is their workplace for between 8 and 12 hours every day. They want a van that offers all the qualities of a passenger car, so that the company and the driver are enhanced through the image of the vehicle. For customers in this category, their personal view of the car is more important than questions of economy.

“Non-user-decision-makers” place greater emphasis on rational criteria such as reliability, robustness and economy of use (consumption, maintenance costs and residual value). The opinion of users is also taken into consideration.

In all cases, the question of image is fundamental. The standing of the utility vehicle conveys the image of the company. Today, buyers tend to prefer compact, multi-purpose utility vehicles, able to serve as either a passenger car or a utility vehicle and thereby to satisfy both private and professional requirements.

Bank of Scotland Berlingo Buyers are looking for a vehicle offering sufficient space and accessibility for professional activities, while also maximising comfort and life on board during private use. Half the owners of utility vehicles use their vehicle for travelling between home and work and 25 per cent use it for leisure purposes.

Berlingo has seen significant success in Europe and recent orders illustrate the diversity of its owners:

Car and commercial vehicle parts distributor, Bennetts of St Albans is replacing its Ford Escort van fleet with the Berlingo siting superior fuel economy, driver comfort and load volume.
Scottish Hydro electricity has added an electric Berlingo to its normal Berlingo fleet to demonstrate the Berlingo’s unique contribution to the environment.
TNT, the UK’s largest same-day delivery company, has added 200 Citroën Berlingos to its UK fleet. TNT’s decision to run the Berlingos, which will average 160,000 km per annum, was swayed by the ability of the Berlingo to carry a 600 kg pallet loaded straight from a fork lift.
SHL couriers makes such intensive use of its five Citroën Berlingo vans that they are fitted with satellite tracking to maximise the round the clock use of their Berlingo vans.
Partco’s fleet of Berlingos now stands at 1700 vans, with reliability and economy as the guiding reasons for choosing Citroën.
East of Scotland Water operates 92 Citroën Berlingos, which replaced Ford and GM vans. They were chosen because they offered value for money, coupled with high standards of driver comfort and safety.
In Depth Cleaning,
one of the UK’s largest contract cleaners, operates 17 Citroën Berlingos, chosen because “they never break down”.