face to faceLucaSraIveco ManagingDirector for theUK and IrelandIt’s almost a year since Ivecoappointed Luca Sra as itsnew Managing Directorfor the UK and Ireland.16Luca has been with Ivecosince 1997 when he joinedas Area Product Managerfor the company’s range of lightcommercial vehicles in Italy.Following this he has held severalkey posts within Iveco includingmanaging the company’s Turkishoperations. He took up hispost in the UK last July havingserved almost three years asSales Director for Italy; he isnow based at Iveco’s Watfordheadquarters in Hertfordshire.Now that he’s settled into hisnew role, <strong>Export</strong> & <strong>Freight</strong>’sHelen Beggs managed to catchup with him at the recent CVShow in Birmingham to findout how he – and Iveco - isfaring in the current climate.“This past year has been a verygood one for Iveco,” says Luca.“We are in a growing market andhave captured a significant share.That upward trend has extendedinto the first quarter of this year.”Have you made any significantchanges within the UKorganisation since your arrival?Yes, there have been some bigmanagement changes; we havemade some in-house promotionsand have also brought in expertisefrom outside the company. Theprocess of change is continuingas we seek to strengthen theorganisation and ensure wehave the right people to takethe company forward.It is people that make a companystrong; we are in a peoplebusiness. People can make adifference, whether it is positiveor negative; we want to havethe right people, with the rightqualities, we want to have thebest possible team around us.How is Iveco faring in thecurrent climate? Thereare some positive signs ofrecovery being reflectedacross the network, soare we over the worst?We are in a recovering market.Last year we regained more than25% in volumes and it remainsvery positive, especially for lightcommercial vehicles. The monthof March was significantlybetter. The market for mediumand heavy duty trucks is alsoin positive territory, thoughFace to Face-Luca Sra spread.indd 16 09/05/2012 10:49
face to facethere remains room for furtherimprovement in these sectors.I would especially like to seeour market share in the heavysector, at a comparable level tothe European average which isseven per cent, so that meanswe would have to double ourmarket share in the UK overthe next couple of years.Are we over the worst? I am nota magician, so I cannot predictwhat the coming months hold,but overall I am comfortable withour position and future plans.There is still a tough operatingenvironment out there, but therecession is past and confidenceis growing in the market.What are your plansand strategies for theimmediate future?We will continue to invest inour people, both within thecompany and across our dealernetwork. We want to continueraising our standards, and thirdly,we will be concentrating on ourcustomer base, building evencloser relationships because, asI said, this is a people business;it is all about people, andbeing close to our customers,finding out what their specificneeds and requirements are,can make a difference.Once again Iveco wasn’t atthe CV show, why is that?As a company, we have toprioritise, as many of the majormanufacturers do, although wedid have a presence at the showthrough one of our main dealers.The show is important to us,but we have to measure thecost against return; this yearwe couldn’t justify the financialoutlay. However, we continueto evaluate the situation. I amnot saying we will not everreturn, but at this stage wecannot say when we mighthave a presence there again.With fuel prices still highon the agenda, how isthe new EcoStralis beingaccepted by operators?Very well. Operators have tokeep costs down, and fuelrepresents a big percentage oftheir outgoings, so EcoStralisis proving to be a commonsense solution. On tractor units,EcoStralis is probably responsiblefor about 50% of our sales.Iveco was recently recognisedby the Low Carbon VehiclePartnership with an award forbeing the Low Carbon HeavyDuty Vehicle Manufacturer ofthe Year; how significant is thatfor you as a manufacturer?We were delighted with theaward, as we are continuallystriving to keep one step aheadof the competition as far asalternative fuel technologiesare concerned, such as CNG,hybrids and electric. We arealways trying to anticipate whatthe future demands will be withregard to cost effective transportsolutions for our customers.There is a lot of interest inalternative fuels from ourcustomers; some of our bigclients are already runningCNG vehicles in significantnumbers across the UK.Iveco, too, was the first UKtruck manufacturer last year tooffer EEV engines as standard.Financing new truck purchasescontinues to be difficult,especially as the big Banksand some other financialinstitutions are not interestedin lending to operators, so howis Iveco helping its customers?Financing a new truck is abig problem not just here butthroughout Europe, howeverwe have Iveco Capital whichsupports the sales of Ivecoproducts, funding the completerange of light, medium andheavy commercial vehicles withtailor-made financial services.Its aim is to help customers fundvehicles in the most beneficialmanner for their individualoperations, using their expertisein the industry and financialstrength as a member of theIveco Group, which is in turn partof the Fiat Group - one of theworld’s largest organisations.Do you have any specificplans to grow market share inNorthern or Southern Ireland?How is Iveco performing locally?The market in the north andsouth of Ireland is differentthan in the rest of the UK andindeed Europe because it isdominated by small to mediumfleets, so we adapt accordingly.Market share in Northern Irelandis growing; we have a strongdealership with NI Trucks andthat is making a difference.We will also be supportingthe forthcoming Truckfest inNorthern Ireland, but our planshaven’t yet been finalised.As for the south of Ireland, I amhappy to report that we also havea strong partner there; however,there remains a lot of work to doin the Republic which is still in thegrip of a financial crisis, but weare working to ensure that we willbe well placed when the recoverycomes; that probably won’thappen for three or four years yet.Where do you see yourselfand Iveco in five years’ time?Personally, I cannot say where Iwill be in the next five years, butmy aim and my ambition is to putin place the proper infrastructureto develop our position in theUK market and to grow a viable,profitable and sustainablebusiness for our stakeholders.17Face to Face-Luca Sra spread.indd 17 09/05/2012 10:49
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