To create better efficiency and dealer viability, Stellantis has appointed Prasad Phansalkar as head dealer development of Jeep and Citroen in India. For the first time a car company is appointing one head for multi-brand car retail in India.
Phansalkar will be reporting to Joel Verany, who is now responsible for Sales & Marketing Efficiency at Stellantis India.
He will be responsible for network management, network business development, dealer methods, standard & quality, EV readiness, and dealer network training.Phansalkar has 25 years of experience in Sales, Dealer Network Development, Retail Distribution, Franchise Business Management, Logistics.
Experts say the move is in line with the global consolidation of the two carmakers FCA and Citroen.
However, they also mentioned that it would bring much efficiency between the two companies as they plan to appoint the same dealers for both brands in the future.Hence, a dealer principal would have the option of selling either of the brand vehicles.
So far, dealers of FCA selling Jeep brand have been selling cars in low numbers hitting the over profitability. But having another brand of the same company will help them to sell more and make more profits. Apart from this, when both carmakers share platforms, it will further increase efficiency.
Carmakers such as Volkswagen and Skoda, which are part of the Volkswagen Group, have always differentiated their strategies and have appointed two different dealer development heads. These companies have different sets of dealer principals and hence fight for the same pie like other carmakers.