Corporate Cabs

Those of you who frequently use Corporate Cabs for business purposes may have noticed something a little bit different about them. You don’t have to be a trainspotter to realise that one day you were collected by a Calais, and the next day, your chariot hails from the Czech Republic. The bonnet badging on the large, white Corporate Cabs is similar but different, because Corporate Cabs has started to roll out a 400-strong fleet of specially-specified Skoda Superbs. With the cessation of Commodore builds in Australia and the latest product from Germany no longer suited to the Corporate Cabs culture; the transport operator with pillars of space, luxury and quality as its key differentiators made a hard call to find an alternative, single marque to preserve its customer promise, its brand and philosophy. According to Corporate Cabs’ CEO Colin Samson, the decision of which brand to choose was a lengthy process, but one which he and the Corporate Cabs board of directors were happy to undertake. “We have a joint responsibility to our customers and owner operators when it comes to vehicle choice,” Colin says. “Our clients have come to expect a high level of service and equally high level of vehicle quality, which in fairness, Holden has always managed to deliver. “It’s unfortunate from their perspective that the new ZB Commodore – good as it is – does not meet our requirements, chief among which is the ability to fit four suitcases in the rear.” This requirement proved to be quite a challenge for other manufacturers vying for Corporate Cab’s highly visible fleet presence. “It was not the only requirement,” explains Colin “but it was certainly a significant one. We also need vehicles which offer Business Class accommodations in terms of space.” Other considerations were fuel efficiency, a stress-free transition from Calais ownership to ‘something else’ for the owner operators on the part of the supplier, exemplary safety ratings and passenger comfort levels as well as all-day driveability,

to mention a few key attributes – there were considerably more. “The vehicle that Skoda New Zealand presented, the overall fleet package and the company’s incredible ability to work as closely with us as we do with our owner operators all made the Board’s choice a clear one,” says Colin. “From a fleet buyer’s perspective, Greg (Leet) and his team from Skoda couldn’t have made the partnership and the processes any better. I can’t recommend them highly enough. “The roll out is going to take some time,” Colin explains. “We’re not about to ask our operators to go and trade their Holdens in for Skodas tomorrow. That’s an unrealistic expectation, given some of the Holdens are only part way through their seven-year lifecycle. “From Corporate Cabs standpoint, when the Calais’ require replacing, the operators will shift to Skodas until the entire fleet has transitioned across. We have always been a one car brand fleet and that’s the image we’re looking to maintain, but not at the inconvenience of our operators or clients.” Corporate Cabs is also undergoing a subtle livery change at present; the cabs are still white, but the new look reinforces the assurance of premium quality service the company has and continues to deliver. We did a little experiment, just to see what the Corporate Cabs experience was like. Booking a Corporate Cab is easy: we could have used a direct phone call to the call centre, a phone app or the online booking system, which would later go over to my-not-so smartphone via email. Being technologically challenged, my best bet was booking on the laptop. I included a special request proviso that I would be uplifted by a Skoda. That was that, and sure enough, the booking confirmation came through, two days ahead of my planned travel. Apparently, about 80 percent of Corporate Cabs business is pre-booked. On the Sunday of travel, my phone buzzed. My 3pm pickup was here (it was 2.49). I went out to greet my driver, Rahul, who smoothly relieved me of my luggage with one hand while shaking my hand with the other. My door was opened for me and – feeling very much the VIP – I got in. Now I don’t usually find myself in the back seats of cars and this was the second time I had ventured into the rear of a Skoda, though the first time was in a wagon. I was reminded of just how easy it is to board one of these cars with my decidedly average 5’11 height not having to resort to all manner of contortions or concussions. I settled into the still new leather and noted a lack of regular taxi tacky stick-on signs. Instead, I had a healthy selection of up-to-date magazines in the seat pockets to peruse, or I could cleanly look through the front seat gap and see everything that was going on, without having to crane forward. As we came onto the main road, Rahul casually asked me my preferred route, over the Bridge or through the west? I opted for the Bridge and off we went. Rahul was quite comfortable with my conversational questions and it turned out he had only recently taken delivery of the Skoda. He was very impressed with it, having come out of the Calais and – in another professional life – a Camry. The Skoda was, according to Rahul, smoother, quieter and so much more fuel efficient. He was confident of 1000km range out of the Superb. I quizzed him about the auto stop start, and he was enthusiastic about it, though some of his customers found it disconcerting. “I use it for fuel economy,” he explained, “but its good for emission reduction too.” Hmm, Rahul seems to know his onions when it comes to modern engine tech. Rahul checked my flight departure time as we entered the Western Ring route tunnels. These days, Gillies Ave through to the airport is a bit of a nuisance with lights, roundabouts and unpredictable traffic volumes. The tunnel may be longer, but it is apparently faster. I was gratified to see that with no cruise control armed, Rahul was constantly just under the 80km restriction, clearly confident that we were not going to be late. Our motorway cruise speed never broke 98. Nor were we holding anyone up by being in the wrong lane, in fact, we moved about quite smoothly to accommodate other road users. Professionalism and courtesy extends beyond the Corporate Cab customer it seems. At the airport, Rahul opened the boot first, then my door. While I exited, he could get my bag and be waiting to extend a business card with the happy advice that he lives on the North Shore and if ever I needed a taxi, I could always request his services. In the future, I just might. From Skoda New Zealand’s standpoint, the Corporate Cabs coup is something the distributor is “really happy about.” We spoke to Skoda NZ GM Greg Leet about how the roll out is going to happen. We’ve seen a greater take up than we expected in the early days,” Greg says. We’re looking at 40 to 60 Superbs a year, maybe 10 a month, maybe two a month. It depends on the age of the existing cars that need to be replaced and accidents, but it’s never going to be the case where we will be able to deliver 450 cars in one hit," says Greg. “This is an absolutely sustainable business model,” he adds. “It’s one thing to sell cars to people, it’s another to partner with a company. Between Skoda and Corporate Cabs it is very much a partnership arrangement rather than just being a vehicle supplier.” Greg explains that Skoda being a fastgrowing brand, it has a comparatively small footprint, compared to other brands. This means big fleet deals are unusual for Skoda, though Greg points to the IHC fleet as Skoda’s largest by volume. “We have lots of smaller fleets, fives, tens and fifteens, and we’ve learned a lot over the years. I think our brand – and the Group – really do win when this partnership approach is taken.” The difference, according to Greg, is that

a one-off car sale is price driven and usually continues on that basis. “A partnership involves an open relationship when the customer is serviced to the best of our abilities for many years to come.” Greg adds that customer satisfaction is another crucial element to an ongoing business partnership, but apropos of that, Greg firmly believes the mainstream brands are Skoda’s direct competition. “Mainstream is our sandpit,” he says. “If a customer who has purchased a Ford, Hyundai, Mazda, Subaru or Holden and has not considered a Skoda, they’ve made a mistake.” This isn’t arrogance, as Greg explains: “All cars are generally pretty good,” he admits “Ours have many points of difference which are applied with the ‘’Simply Clever’’ brush; umbrellas in the doors, bigger space inside, larger boots, the same size exteriors as other competing cars, fuel efficient engines and all these sorts of things. Product to product, we should win,” he says with confidence. Which is all good, but what then, does customer satisfaction from Skoda look like to a business partner looking at other mainstream brands? “Our product is fantastic,” Greg continues, referring to the Skoda range, “but we don’t build it here. We have a responsibility to make sure every customer considering Skoda is treated like family.” How that applies to a corporate partner depends on the corporate partner. “For some corporates, there is an importance placed on driver training, for others, it will be the health and welfare of their drivers overall,” says Greg. “Some organisations place a greater importance on how they interact with their community. We ensure that our professional relationship operates in line with what is important to each corporate customer.” In terms of the Corporate Cabs fleet of 400 cars, the process of replacement could take four or five years, but Skoda is there for the long haul. “There is no point at all,” says Greg “for a franchisee who put themselves into a new Holden to replace it with a Skoda until the Holden has come to the end of its fit-for-purpose life.” “With every Corporate Cabs vehicle delivery, the franchisee has to be successful. If they are successful, Corporate Cabs is successful and so we will be successful too. That’s how the partnership approach works.” Skoda NZ has had to take some extraordinary steps to ensure Corporate Cabs business requirements are met. “Each car comes in with standard tyres from the factory,” explains Greg. “These are high performance tyres, great for European speeds and road handling, but not necessarily longevity. We have researched and sourced alternative options which better suit Corporate Cabs’ needs when considering the specific requirements. “We also specified an engine – the 162kw unit – which we had never seen here before, but is again, better suited for the role.” It is possible to get the engine for the private market of course, but Greg says the private buyer favours the wagon over the sedan. Happily, the engine is well suited to either. With Corporate Cabs' business model focused on the sedans however, is handed over at a dealership local to the Corporate Cabs franchise operator too, and as soon as an order is placed, Skoda New Zealand sets the wheels in motion to ensure the car is landed, fitted with the Corporate Cabs' electronics, then modified locally before the new owner takes delivery. “We take all the hassle of transitioning to a different vehicle than what the drivers have been used to for some years,” says Greg. “When we met with Corporate Cabs, the importance of making sure the owner operators were looked after properly was a very significant part of the process.” As the board explained, they expect professionalism from their operators when it comes to customer interaction and in return, the board treats the operators with professionalism. Harking back to the partnership concept, Corporate Cabs needed a handover commitment from Skoda NZ that the transition process would be a hassle-free one for its operators, thus the cars arrive at the dealership ready to go to work straight away. Focused more on the customer’s requirements is the guiding principle which drives every Skoda purchase. “We use this business model with every customer, corporate, fleet or private,” Greg explains, “rather than focus on heavy discounting, or reinventing the sales wheel. Each Skoda that goes out from a dealership represents a mutually beneficial arrangement, which sees everyone winning." This approach to business prosperity is not rocket science. It is, as Skoda so succinctly puts it, Simply Clever.