TESTIMONIAL: INTERVIEW WITH WOLFGANG PAURITSCH.
THE HEAD OF FLEET MANAGEMENT AT MEIER TOBLER LTD IN SCHWERZENBACH (CANTON OF ZURICH) TALKS ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES WITH BMW SWITZERLAND CORPORATE, DIRECT & SPECIAL SALES.
Hello, Mr Pauritsch. Would you please briefly introduce yourself and your company?
Meier Tobler is the leading provider for building services in Switzerland, operating in three major areas. Meier Tobler’s experienced consultants contribute their outstanding system knowledge as they assist installers, planners, architects and builders. With our trade expertise, we provide a complete range of products across the entire temperature axis to local installers working in the areas of heating, air conditioning, ventilation and plumbing. Our service organisation, with more than 400 technicians throughout Switzerland, stands ready to serve our clients 24/7, offering value maintenance and troubleshooting across the entire life cycle. Dario Mele, Fabrizio Raimondo and I look after our fleet of vehicles. We are supported by external partners in matters of financing and maintenance, with everything else done by us. This includes procurement, claims handling, management of fuel cards, tyres and master data maintenance, and returning vehicles to the leasing companies.
How large is your fleet, and what vehicles does it include?
Our fleet currently comprises some 270 passenger cars, more than 400 panel vans for the service organisation, 44 delivery vans and lorries and 11 trailers. Most of the vehicles include company branding to underscore our corporate identity. We always lease the vehicles with a service/maintenance contract. We also enabled numerous employees to purchase BMW vehicles privately.
What does a vehicle manufacturer need to be able to offer you?
Our highest priority is to have operationally safe and reliable vehicles with state-of-the-art technology. Employees need to be able to completely rely on their vehicle at all times, as it is ultimately a key tool in their work. Our second consideration is the total costs associated with the vehicle over the entire period in which it is operated. In this respect, the excellent residual values of the vehicles speak for the BMW brand. Of equal importance are a functioning garage network, personal support – in the event of vehicle replacements, for example – and easy handling of problem cases. Our work is simplified if vehicle variants with all-wheel drive are available to employees in mountainous regions. Delivery times for new vehicles are becoming increasingly important. We are now hiring employees within a short period of time ever more frequently. If delivery times are too long, it is often not possible to provide the new employee with “their vehicle” when they start work, which then results in significant inconvenience for the employee and fleet management.
To what extent do BMW and MINI fulfil the requirements of Meier Tobler Ltd?
Our passenger car needs are optimally met with the BMW vehicles of the 2, 3 and 5 Series. The vehicles are primarily used by employees working in sales and project management as well as by executives and managing directors. With the three model series, we can easily find the right balance between “workhorses” and “vehicles with premium appeal”. These models have also proven themselves as pool vehicles with constantly changing drivers. And all models are also available in a version with all-wheel drive. Unfortunately, BMW does not offer a suitable model for our service organisation vehicles, which is why we rely on a multi-brand fleet there.
Do you have a preferred drive concept?
In 2020, all of the vehicles that we will be putting into service will run on diesel. We are also currently conducting trials with plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles.
«The quality of the vehicles is high across the entire range.»
Wolfgang Pauritsch
Meier Tobler AG
How do you see BMW and MINI in comparison with other brands?
The BMW models of the 3 and 5 Series belong to the premium segment. We see the 2 Series as a volume model and “workhorse” beneath the other two. However, the quality of the vehicles is consistently high across the entire range, and you can clearly recognise the kinship between the models. But every silver lining has a cloud. Despite everything positive that the BMW brand stands for, we occasionally hear isolated expressions of criticism from our end customers – they are surprised that our employees are out and about in “luxury models” or “cars popular among high-speed drivers”. However, we can refute these objections with objective arguments regarding quality and durability.
What were the most important reasons for you to choose BMW and MINI?
BMW fully met our requirements regarding drive system type, size and model variants. The good value for money over the entire operating period was the best offer in the most recent tender round in 2016.
What three concepts do you associate with BMW and MINI?
Partnership: Cornelia Winet and Stephan Inauen look after us very well and with a personal touch. They grasp exactly what is important to us and what we need from them. The ordering process is really easy.
Manufacturing quality: The vehicles are very reliable and of high quality. Our employees are quite happy with the vehicles.
Sheer driving pleasure: We really notice how these vehicles differ from our old fleet. Many of our employees take real pleasure in driving their vehicles.
