During the Alfa Romeo Tonale Regional launch and in celebration of Quadrifoglio 100 years anniversary, we sat down with the top executive Arnaud LeClerc chief of Operations outside Europe from Alfa Romeo, and brought you the inside information about motorsport, F1, and the future.
Q: You handle different markets with different variables, how do you change your mindset and look into the particularity of each market?
A: Well, two years ago we created this position as we took the decision to go into global markets more and the challenge is not how do I change my mindset, the challenge is to sit down with the teams in each market and understand what they are looking for and what they want to see no matter how small the details are.
Q: you mentioned in your presentation that as Alfa Romeo you want to beat Lexus, this may be easy in various markets but in the GCC Lexus is core for GCC citizens, how are you planning to achieve that?
A: Well, when we say Lexus as a benchmark, we want to beat Lexus as features and premium and not in sales, and in this case if you want to be number 1 you need to have as a target the number 1 whether it is Lexus or any other brand and not just GCC, it is also in the USA and the customer satisfaction index in the USA shows that we are number 1 and if we can be number 1 in USA we can be number 1 in GCC.
Q: Any specific actions you will take in the middle east to establish the same customer satisfaction or journey?
A: There’s no specific action, what we are looking for is proper representation as importers in the GCC, and that will lead to achieving the desired performance, we have Gargash in UAE and we did sit with them and understand their plans, and what they would like to do and we look forward for the same in KSA and we have Petromin in KSA and we are now working closely with Petromin to see what we need to work on together as for us KSA should be 50% of the growth in the middle east and there’s a new importer in Oman.
Q: In terms of the future of Alfa Romeo, you have mentioned that there will be a new car every year, will you be working on new engines or just EV
A: we came in late to the competition and we will be fast and we will start with the Tonale PHEV and then full electric, but what I can tell you about next year is that we have a car that is coming that is fully electric, we are coming heavily to the electric but we need to understand that we still need ICE and what I want to say that Alfa Romeo is all about the intense emotions so when we want to go into electric it has to have the DNA of Alfa Romeo
Q: In terms of F1 experience, is there any technology being transferred from F1 to road cars
A: yes every time you engage in such experiences you get knowledge, and not to forget that F1 is hybrid engine so we are listening to our engineers and technicians all the time, and this partnership needs to be consistent with our values and DNA of sportiness.
Q: Will you be leaving Formula 1?
A: we are ending our partnership as it is now, but that doesn’t mean we are out of F1, wait to hear more news on that soon
Q: F1 is now getting big in the USA and 4 rounds in the middle east, and these are your main international markets, so how effective was overall being in Formula 1 for the past few years and now with top-tier drivers?
A: well to measure effectiveness, we need to look at what we are investing as a partner and what we are getting in return, what I can say is that our ROI from such investment is absolutely positive, we have taken the decision not to continue with Sauber F1 team but that doesn’t mean we won’t be in F1 afterward, so we are putting on the table all possible options in terms of sporty partnership.
Q: Will one of the options be a full Alfa Romeo Formula F1 team and not just a title sponsor?
A: Could be, but stay tuned for further details
Q: we know that Alfa Romeo has amazing quality in its products, however, it is still not perceived as a brand to be on the shopping list when looking for premium cars, what are your strategies to change that and achieve a presence on that shopping list?
A: what we can say, is if you don’t have the attention of the shoppers you are not on the list, so all it takes is attention and our job is to create that attention, so if you have the right products such as the Tonale and the facelift on Stelvio and Giulia and the right message and the understanding of the people of what is Alfa Romeo you will be on the list, so now we will support the guys in the Middle East as apart from the emirates we are selling close to Zero and now things will change especially in KSA
Q: Alfa Romeo consumer is not your average consumer, they want to live the experience and not get lost in the multi-brand products on display at the showroom, so will we be seeing this soon?
A: I agree, and yes we have now developed a new corporate identity and we are in the phase of implementing it, we are not looking for massive showrooms, we want you to enter the Alfa Romeo box and feel the emotions and see that F1 merchandising and we don’t you to get lost with other brands and we want the consumer to live the experience.
Q: Will there be a QV on the Tonale, as in our region you need to have that Halo car whether the Tonale QV or Spyder?
A: we will never give up on QV, we are celebrating 100 years, so it is part of our DNA, heritage and the past, and even on EVs, it is not easy to do on EV but when you see a QV on and EV it will give you the same emotions as on an ICE QV.
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With more than 15 years of Auto Journalism, Nabil has lead and founded several print auto magazines as well as Digital Auto Magazines throughout the years. He was the editor in chief for the best automotive websites in the region and presented lots of YouTube videos on multuple channels and TV.
And most importantly he has an unprecedented passion for cars since he was born.
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