March 2021

W hen one business takes over another, there is inevitably going to be some disruption internally, which will occasionally appear on the outside. A vehicle manufacturer may for example, choose to limit investment in a new vehicle by purchasing a block of another vehicle manufacturer’s model, re- badging it and selling it. Of course, there is the original manufacturer’s margin but this allows a low volume/low investment access to a new sector whilst the real contender is completed. Another option might be joint investment/engineering/ manufacturing of a model line, where major profit items like powertrains may be sourced from each vehicle manufacturer whilst sharing the vehicle final assembly plants. Otherwise, a VM can purchase a complete vehicle. This could range from use of an acquired company to access culture/capabilities that do not exist inside the ‘host’, through to purchasing engineering services to deliver programmes at higher speed that is possible with the ‘host’ staff. A good example of this activity is in the area of vans. The Fiat Professional Ducato is built alongside the Peugeot Professional Boxer by a long-standing joint venture between Peugeot SA (PSA) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), with most vehicles built at the SEVEL Sud plant – yes, there is a SEVEL Nord plant, which produces the Peugeot Professional Expert, which is also sold by Citroen, Toyota and Vauxhall/Opel in Europe. That’s why both ranges of vans feature powertrains from FCA as well as PSA. Meanwhile the Fiat Professional Doblo Cargo has been sold by Vauxhall / Opel as a ‘Combo’, since General Motors Europe (RIP) could not afford to the investment to produce such a vehicle. Oddly this was an accident, since the primary target was the Renault Kangoo, but Mercedes- Benz got there first with the deal which ended up as the Citan. Famously, Mercedes-Benz entered into an agreement with the previous generation Sprinter 906 to provide Volkswagen with the first-generation Crafter, where the primary difference was the source of the engines. Yes, Volkswagen insisted their engines were better than Mercedes-Benz, but in truth this was one source of profit they could not give away. Each first- generation Volkswagen Crafter was built in one of two Mercedes-Benz manufacturing plants, apart from the powertrain. I remember the unveiling of the Ford Transit Custom, speaking to a person who worked for Mercedes- Benz – he was amused that Mercedes-Benz wrote supply contract to Volkswagen limiting the annual global sales to 40,000 units, knowing this would be exceeded and there was nothing Volkswagen could do. Having stood on the shoulders of greatness (a.k.a the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 906), the two companies parted for the next generation vehicles. Volkswagen built a new plant in Poland as well as the product investment, in the knowledge it would work – the reward for years of self-inflicted pain. How does that affect repair? Where an entire project is outsourced to another vehicle manufacturer, the repair process and parts availability follow the source manufacturer, rather than the host manufacturer. JLR, for example, employed Magna Styer to engineer and build the Jaguar E-Pace which was a reskin of the Range Rover Evoque L550. As expected, assemblies which are shared have identical repair processes, but the documentation is subtly different for areas which apart from shape are joined to the body in an identical way. Magna Styer also engineered as well as build the Jaguar I-Pace, which is a standalone vehicle. Where the process is not really controlled, the result can be interesting. Ford commissioned a replacement for the Ka from FCA, using the Fiat 500 as the base complete with all powertrains and to be built alongside the 500 in Poland. This was down to an inability to finance a new vehicle, and the acceptance the profit margin would be much reduced to access the 3.4 m long ’A’ market segment. The project resulted in a fine vehicle with a purchase price perilously close to the bigger ‘B’ market segment Fiesta. Part of the contract was to write the technical documentation. We 18 AFTERMARKET MARCH 2021 TECHNICAL www.aftermarketonline.net AUTOMOTIVE SOUP Andrew Marsh looks at what happens when automotive companies merge and transition, and how this can affect the cars when they reach your garage BY Andrew Marsh, Engineering Director, Auto Industry Consulting Ltd