Planning the revival of a top end car brand

When former client Dr. Martin Leach was appointed as CEO of Maserati, he immediately approached me to work with him and his senior team to develop a business plan for this iconic brand. I assembled a small team from my personal network and we worked over a period of three months to review the needs of the business and consider brand positioning, product cycle plan, channels, revenue and cost management, asset base and people requirements, all summarised in a five year financial plan. This included important changes to strengthen tha brand, extend the product range, increase the use of alliances and joint ventures, and reduce cost, together transforming the business model to achieve profitability within five years. Subsequent changes within the broader Fiat Group led to management changes at Maserati and financial constraints that have continued to hold back the true potential of this great brand.

Expert witnessing - helping to sort out the facts

In an arbitration case involving a vehicle manufacturer and a full service supplier, I was engaged by the lawyers acting for the manufacturer to act as an expert witness in a case that ended up going to a full arbitration hearing at the International Court of Arbitration in Geneva. The dispute related to whether the supplier had contributed through design, quality or manufacturing failures to disappointing sales of a particular product. My role included examining and commenting on the competitiveness of the product design itself, the potential size of the market opportunity, and whether the reputation of the product had been damaged by initial supply and quality issues such that it never achieved its full potential. As with most arbitration cases, the findings were not entirely one-sided, but the outcome was viewed by my client as satisfactory.

Adding value as a Non-Executive Director

I had the honour to serve as a Non-Executive Director of Ashok-Leyland, listed on the Mumbai stock exchange and the second largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in India. It provided an opportunity to bring my experience in commercial vehicles and business best practices to an exciting market at a time when the company was embarking on a new phase of growth and product expansion. I gained interesting insights into Indian business culture and the bureaucracy that businesses face in opening new facilities and transporting goods across state boundaries, as well as a toe in the water on trucking operations in India. Unfortunately, my time in this role was cut short by my appointment as an executive in GAZ Group, the Russian commercial vehicle manufacturer, and a perception that this could lead to possible conflicts if interest despite the different geographical market focus.

Supporting major acquisitions - some you win…

Working with a team assembled by my late friend Dr Martin Leach, we supported SAIC in their bid to acquire the MG-Rover business when it went into administration in 2005. Unfortunately we were not able to convince the SAIC management at the time that they had to take the separate bid of Nanjing Auto seriously in the context of a UK administration process, resulting in Nanjing acquiring the business initially, but without the resources to develop it. Our plans would have saved much of the business in Europe including UK manufacturing, as well as delivering the benefits to SAIC in developing their Chinese domestic brands.

There were other M&A advisory projects which had more positive outcomes, as well as others that got away, but the SAIC/MG Rover deal is the one that leaves me wondering “what if…”?

Full CV for Steve Young available here…

We can put together multi-disciplinary teams when required, but the full CV for Steve Young, combining his executive and consulting experience is available to download here.