Peugeot South Africa’s significant investment in people, facilities and systems to improve its after-sales customer support in practical terms as well as changing the views of the public in general regarding the perceived high running costs of this vehicle range is already bearing fruit.
This is evident from the marque’s strong showing in the recently-published Kinsey Report on the prices of service and replacement parts. Both the Peugeot 308 1,6 VTi Active and the 3008 2.0 HDi Allure fared very well.
The 2012 Kinsey Report is the most comprehensive survey ever conducted by KwaZulu-Natal motoring journalist Malcolm Kinsey and his team since the first report was published in 1990. This year the report evaluated the parts prices of 64 vehicles, which were divided into eight categories.
The comparisons are made in three sections – service parts, repair parts and crash parts – and the combined total is reflected as a percentage of the car’s retail selling price to obtain the rankings.
The Peugeot 308 had the lowest cost for service parts in the Family Favourites category, which comprises 11 popular passenger cars. Service parts include items such as filters, spark plugs, brake pads and wiper blades.
The 308 ranked fifth in terms of repair parts pricing and rated fourth in the price of its crash parts. Overall it placed fourth overall in its category with its combined parts basket costing R69 239-46, which equates to 29,86% of the car’s selling price.
The other Peugeot model that was evaluated in the 2012 Kinsey Report was the 3008 2.0HDi Allure, which was up against eight other vehicles in the Crossover category.
This derivative placed an excellent second overall for the combined parts basket, with its total of R81 967 being only R9-32 more expensive than the parts basket for the Toyota Fortuner. These were the only two vehicles in the category that had totals below R100 000. The cost of the Peugeot’s parts equated to 24,4% of the 3008’s selling price.
The 3008 also fared well in the service parts section, ranking second It was also runner-up in the crash parts section and fifth of the nine models in the repair parts price ranking, where its total was skewed somewhat by the price of the rear shock absorbers. These are not sold individually but as a kit as a pair with piping and a hydraulic pump for the self-levelling suspension.
“We knew an aggressive programme was necessary to promote the competitive cost of Peugeot parts and after-sales service to counter the negative perception in South Africa that French cars are expensive to run. We are delighted to see the positive outflows of our actions from the latest Kinsey Report,” said Peugeot South Africa’s Managing Director, Francis Harnie.
“Among the many action plans we have instituted recently is one that gave the local motor industry a shake up earlier this year when we introduced a 5 Year Premium Plan, inclusive of a service and maintenance plan for all our passenger cars, which provides our customers with five years peace-of-mind”.
“Although most premium cars have a maintenance plan the vast majority of cars sold in South Africa are sold with a service plan only and not an added maintenance plan. We are proud of introducing this latest initiative and it is already proving an important tool in building brand loyalty and thereby increasing our sales volumes, added Harnie.
