Mobile service vans are the latest innovation from Nissan in Saudi Arabia and Alissa Auto. For the first time, Nissan owners in the Kingdom are able to have service experts come to them instead of taking their vehicles to a workshop.
If there is no Nissan workshop within 150 km, customers can book the mobile service by toll-free phone. Three vans are already covering Jeddah, Riyadh, and Dammam with six more to be added by the end of the year.
The mobile service vans are part of an ambitious new aftersales programme including improved parts supply and dealership experience, designed to further boost customer satisfaction and sales penetration.
The company increased its market share in Saudi Arabia from 1.3 per cent to 8.0 per cent in the past year and its sales and service network is expanding, from covering 42 per cent of the Saudi population to reach 70 per cent in July and 100 per cent by March next year.
Nissan is also working to further improve its parts operation, which already stands as one of the most efficient in the Kingdom. A 12,000m² central parts depot in Riyadh opened in May, together with sub-depots in Jeddah and Al-Khobar, to improve the speed and reliability of parts delivery.
The Nissan parts network was extended to cover all customers in the Kingdom by the end of June via 43 Alissa/Autostar outlets, which will increase to 70 by early 2015. A partnership with two top logistics service providers and the appointment of 71 official parts dealer outlets is also underway.
Furthermore, Nissan commits to ship available parts directly to customers free of charge within 24 hours, if there is no genuine Nissan parts outlet within 100 km.
The experience Saudi customers have at Nissan dealerships is also being refreshed and improved. Alissa shared a world-first with Nissan at last year’s opening of the manufacturer’s ‘new retail concept’ showroom in Riyadh. This dispenses with dealership offices, adds reception counters and cubicles, and introduces a concierge approach to offer customers the best possible service.
Mr. Najeeb Alissa, chairman Alissa Auto, says the company’s partnership with Nissan is helping to change the public perception of service levels within the auto industry at a rapid rate.
“Sales are at record levels and this is in no small measure due to the host of breakthrough aftersales initiatives, from mobile service vans to fast and reliable parts supply to state-of-the art dealership facilities. Nissan has been reborn in Saudi Arabia and the aftersales service has raised the bar very high – and it gets higher all the time.”
Nissan plans to quadruple its annual volumes in Saudi Arabia to 100,000 units over the next two years and increase market share to 12 per cent. The manufacturer achieved regional sales of 217,685 vehicles in the financial year to March, 2014 – up 20.9 per cent on the previous year’s 180,015 – and is targeting Saudi Arabia, the region’s biggest single market, as a prime opportunity for further growth.
Nissan Middle East regional managing director, Samir Cherfan, says burgeoning aftersales service and initiatives underscore Nissan’s success in the Kingdom following the company’s recent commitment to renew the bond with its Saudi customers.
“Our operation in Saudi, in tandem with Alissa Auto, is all about a strong and expanded product line-up, the strength of our dealer network and the bolstering of the now excellent customer experience even further.
“We are seeing our ideas come to fruition all the time and our focus remains fixed firmly on meeting the needs of motorists in the Kingdom. The popularity of our aftersales programme is clearly contributing to our record-breaking sales in Saudi Arabia. The mobile van initiative, for example, is finding great favour with customers because highly-trained service technicians are only a phone call away.
“Similarly, customers now know they can get parts for their vehicles anywhere in the Kingdom extremely quickly. The infrastructure and logistics of our parts operation is second to none. In such a vast nation, this alleviates a tremendous amount of anxiety for the driving public. Motorists can rest easy knowing they can get parts wherever they want them and when they need them - the added bonus is there is no charge for delivery.”