..:: AUTO REPORT AFRICA ::..
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Leading Nigerian auto dealership, R.T Briscoe, said it has no regrets exiting Ford business in the country after 11 years of business relationship with Ford Motor Company.
The company however maintained that its paramount concern was the interest of its numerous customers who have one form of service warranty or the other with Ford based on the various service plans they subscribed to when purchasing their vehicles.
RT Briscoe’s automotive subsidiary, BriscoeFord, was one of the two Ford dealerships in Nigeria until recently when Ford parted ways with the company after 11 years of business relationship.
Reacting to the recent announcement by Ford to end the 11-year deal with RT.Briscoe, the General Manager, BriscoeFord, Mr. Femi Eguaikhide, said the severance of the dealership deal with Ford was the culmination of a long period of operational challenges by BriscoeFord.
“We want to state categorically that we have no regrets whatsoever exiting the Ford dealership business in Nigeria,” Eguaikhide was quoted as saying in a statement obtained by AUTO REPORT AFRICA.
He added: “We had since activated our exit plan when the signs became clear to us that medium to long term profitability could not be guaranteed despite all the huge challenges we face daily running the Ford dealership in Nigeria to ensure customer satisfaction.’’
He however assured that BriscoeFord would do everything within its powers to ensure that this exit does not affect loyal BriscoeFord customers due to their long term faith and confidence in the company’s brand legacy spanning over 60 years in the Nigerian auto industry.
He disclosed that prior to the announcement of the cessation of the business partnership between the two companies, RT Briscoe had asked Ford Motors to work with it in taking actions required to resolve the challenges facing its customers in Nigeria apart from the casual instruction to direct them to the other dealer in the market.
‘’What happens to our current stock of 60 new vehicles amounting to over N500m and stock of spare parts amounting to about N100m,” Eguaikhide asked rhetorically. “We have over 90 vehicles belonging to our valued customers currently in our workshops awaiting warranty approvals and repairs which have been duly communicated to Ford and for which no response has been received.’’
He disclosed further that presently, RT Briscoe has a total of 24 Ford Focus vehicles with faulty semi-automatic transmission systems for which Ford has not been able to give support in carrying out the repairs.
‘’It is in the public domain that Ford Focus and Fiesta models are having this challenge globally and to date, no permanent fix has been deployed for dealers to implement,’’ he added.
Eguaikhide also disclosed that there are over nine law suits from some aggrieved customers seeking or demanding one form of compensation or the other and these cases have been reported to Ford, but no serious response has been received to date.
According to him, there are cases of customers who purchased the Extended Service Package (ESP) from BriscoeFord from October 2015 to June 30th 2016 under the promo, but were denied registration by Ford.
These customers, he lamented, cannot enjoy the free service programme from the other dealer because of the recent development.
These customers, he said, are currently stranded and have been left in the dark as to what happens to their free service arrangement in the face of the current development.
“We would like to assure all the customers who purchased their Ford vehicles riding on their strong confidence and faith in the RT Briscoe brand that we will not abandon them and will deploy all necessary resources at our disposal during this transition period to get their vehicles repaired and returned to them,” he assured.
In the light of the current realities, RT Briscoe said all customers with new warrantable repairs are advised to visit the other dealer to enjoy their warranty repairs which remain valid under the published warranty timelines and mileage as clearly stated in their vehicle and warranty manuals.
“Our major focus remains doing everything possible to mitigate any potential negative impact this exit from Ford dealership on our customers hence our request for a meeting with Ford Motor Company in our last letter which has not been replied as at the time they released their press statement.
‘’We remain hopeful that both parties can work together in the coming days and months to achieve a smooth transition of customers to the other dealer in market while resolving all pending repairs in our workshops for customers whose vehicles have been grounded,’’ he stated.
