Fitch London puts Ford in gear

Fitch London is finalising retail concepts for Ford’s Premier Automotive Group, as the car manufacturer gears up for fundamental changes in the increasingly competitive sector.

The project, worth a six-figure sum ‘under £250 000’ to the group, is scheduled to complete in two months.

Ford’s PAG owns premium car brands Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin and Volvo. From October, European legislation will be introduced allowing dealers to sell more than one car brand at a time.

The legislation will also enable companies other than franchised dealerships to sell cars. Tesco, for example, is understood to be considering selling cars from its larger supermarket outlets.

The Fitch London-created showrooms will feature individually branded areas for each car marque and do away with the need to create separate showrooms and administration areas, says creative director Tim Greenhalgh.

He declines to give details about how each car brand ‘concession’ will look within the showroom, but confirms Fitch London’s work includes interiors as well as external signage and facia.

The showroom templates will be available to dealers on-line, Greenhalgh adds.

‘We’re looking at the planning and layout of showrooms and creating flexible design templates for dealers to download from the Internet,’ he explains.

‘We want to enhance the character of the brands rather than create a general luxury feel,’ says PAG multi-brand retail environment manager Jason Dalton.

The consultancy has been working on the pre-design development of the project for about six months. It was appointed without a pitch on the strength of previous work for Jaguar (DW 9 August 2002).