Xerox Chooses Impala As 'Fleet Car Of The Year'

Ronald F. Pink, after months of serious study and deliberation, has just bestowed his "Fleet Car of the Year" award on the 1977 Chevrolet Impala.

Ron Pink is manager of Company Car Operations for Xerox Corporation, headquartered in Rochester, New York. When Pink likes a car, the manufacturer's fleet and marketing people line up at his front door. Representa­tives of the nation's major leasing firms sharpen their pencils and pro­gram their computers to begin pro­cessing orders - quickly.

When Pink likes a car, thousands of Xerox drivers all over the country start thinking about exterior and interior color choices, and a whole long list of options. In this instance, the fact that Pink likes the new full-sized Im­pala means that by the time April 30th rolls around, 5,238 Xerox drivers will be making their sales and service calls in Impalas.

Any fleet order for more than 5,000 cars is a massive undertaking. An order of that scope is bound to have an im­pact on the auto industry far beyond the actual numbers involved. Such transactions are not entered into with­out careful study and preparation. In Pink's case, the decision to replace more than half the Xerox fleet with impalas came after a detailed analysis of several auto industry offerings with special emphasis on leasing costs, fu­ture resale value, vehicle performance in relation to fuel economy and overall design of the car.

Pink was aided in his selection pro­cess by a task force of Xerox top man­agement people who, once the final choice was made, have backed him at every step in the complicated process of completing the deal.

Planning for the big Impala trans­action began in earnest last fall, Pink says, after the new models had been shown and the Xerox people studied the year's auto industry offerings. Pink broke the news to his drivers on December 10th, with instructions that their individual orders be completed and returned to his desk by January 10th.

Internal handling of the orders was quickly executed by Pink and his peo­ple, with the project then being passed along to the three leasing companies that would provide the cars to the Xerox drivers spotted in all 50 states. Of the 5,238 Impalas ordered, some 4,000 are being leased through Gelco Leasing Company with the balance being provided by Leaseway System Corp., and Hertz Car Leasing.

Delivery of the entire order is to take place between April 16th and April 30th, except for 800 units that will be delivered in March. The order is the largest single fleet passenger car order for delivery at a specific time ever received by Chevrolet, according to Robert L. Berg, director of Chevrolet Fleet Sales.

"The size and scope of this order is very significant and confirms the whole new direction taken by Chevro­let in 1977," Berg declared.

"This resizing judgment has been reinforced by Xerox, a major corpora­tion known for its fleet savvy in re­cognizing the advantages of the new car concept not only in savings of energy and resources, but in future re­sale values," Berg reports.

"The qualities that earned the 1977 Chevrolet full-size car the Motor Trend magazine 'Car of the Year' award are also making it a top choice as a fleet vehicle," Berg said.

"Key elements in the long list of design and engineering innovations are fuel savings with weight savings and conservation of materials in a car near­ly a foot shorter and almost 700 pounds lighter than its predecessors, but with more room inside where it counts," Berg believes.

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Xerox drivers will find their new cars have more front and rear head room and rear legroom than previous Chevy choices, with more usable stor­age space in the trunk. The roomy Im­pala trunk is made even more spacious by the Xerox choice to go with the stowaway spare tire.

Pink reports his company projects substantial savings in fuel and other operating costs during the period the cars are in use, which is expected to offset any additional investment out­lays. The order includes a mix of Im­pala two-door and four-door models and station wagons. All are to be equipped with the 305-cubic-inch V8 engine with two-barrel carburetion for good pulling power and maximum el economy.

"Major fleet users, like Xerox, are impressed with the versatility of the new 1977 Chevrolet with its combina­tion of providing economical transpor­tation while at the same time offering the comfort and roominess of a full-size automobile," Berg said.

The record Xerox order is helping Chevrolet move toward its best fleet sales year in recent history.

Processing of the massive order by the three leasing firms was a task that went surprisingly smoothly, consider­ing the great amount of detail work and the considerable room for error.

Ordering vehicles for Xerox or any other client is only a matter of days in­stead of weeks under the system devel­oped and used by Gelco Leasing Company, a division of Gelco Corporation, the giant full-service transportation management company headquartered in suburban Minneapolis.

Gelco Leasing, in conjunction with a Chevrolet dealer, placed the new car purchase orders on a direct, computer­ized input system linked to the vehicle manufacturer. Called DOES (Direct Order Entry System), the Gelco DOES system does the job quickly and effi­ciently.

Xerox Corporation was the first Gelco client to use the system for a large volume order. In 1975, Gelco ordered 3,500 vehicles for Xerox in just five working days. This year, Gel­co ordered over 4,000 Chevrolet Impalas for Xerox in just two and one-half working days. Processing such an order manually might take three weeks or more.

Gelco began inputting the orders from Xerox into its system on Mon­day, January 24th and completed the transmission of all orders on Wednes­day, January 26th. In one single day, orders for 1,651 cars were processed through DOES, an almost mind-bog­gling feat.

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At the same time, Gelco achieved this level of performance without dis­rupting its normal high level of service performed for its other clients. Accord­ing to Stanley Chason, president of the division, "This is a major and absolute requirement of our system. It is de­signed to deliver peak performance at any given time for all of our clients, small or large. While we were process­ing the mammoth Xerox order, we continued to process new orders for other clients with absolutely no sacri­fice in speed or efficiency."

Chason points out that DOES now accounts for in excess of 90-percent of Gelco's car orders from Chevrolet, Ford and Plymouth, and is being ex­panded to include other manufacturers as well - for cars and trucks. DOES also complements the "Gelco Spec" system, which is a simplified method of ordering vehicles for clients choos­ing to equip them with similar option­al equipment but with minor varia­tions like color or number of doors.

According to Chason, "DOES makes it easier for our clients, the manufac­turers, and Gelco to do business with each other, and gives us more time to attend to the needs of our clients, be they large or small. There is a tre­mendous number of variables involved in fleet management. For example, these Xerox vehicles will be delivered locally through over 500 dealerships across the country, consistent with the 'Gelco Courtesy Delivery' concept, which we pioneered. This requires a tremendous amount of coordinated flexibility and the sophisticated 'sys­tems approach' we apply to aid us in professional fleet management," Cha-son concluded.

Donald F. Gorman, Leaseway Sys­tem president, said the speedy success in filling his firm's share of the Xerox order was due in large part to the "dis­ciplined" ordering procedures Pink and his people employed. Gorman said his staff members went to Rochester to physically collect Pink's completed order forms, then brought them back to Cleveland and executed them in eight hours.

Gorman, who knew for some time that Xerox would be going with the Impala, had lined up the many deliver­ing dealers in those parts of the coun­try that the Leaseway portion of the order would be going to. Using Lease-way's computer system, Gorman was able to feed the Xerox orders to the Chevrolet people in Detroit through a link-up with the selling Chevrolet deal­er, then get nearly instant confirma­tion that Chevrolet received the or­ders. Thus, helping to insure that their various dealers in Leaseway's "terri­tory" would have the cars on hand when the Xerox drivers came for them.

Gorman, who has been in auto leas­ing since before the days of wide­spread computerized ordering, says that his firm would have needed a min­imum of five working days to com­plete the order without computer capability. As the new Impalas are de­livered, Gorman's staff will take pos­session of the trade-ins and dispose of them through the firm's normal auc­tion outlets.

"The secret is timing," Gorman maintains, in recovering the top price for the used cars that will be replaced by the Impalas. Gorman plans to hold at least one "special" Leaseway-Xerox auction to get the trade-ins to the used car market at the earliest possible date.

"I think this transaction proves that large fleet operators need to look very closely at the used car market when they make their fleet additions," Gor­man says. "Ron Pink and the Xerox experience represent the wave of the future in major fleet transactions," Gorman declared.

The third leasing firm involved in the Xerox transaction is Hertz Car Leasing Division, headquartered in New York City.

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"The latest order from Xerox for its leased car fleet called forth our new capabilities in open-end leasing," Jose Menendez, Hertz vice president and general manager said.

Implementation of the order was carried out through a division team ef­fort which included sales, operations, purchasing, used car sales, and custom­er services executives at the division.

"Our top staff members - includ­ing Division Sales Vice President Den­nis McSweeney, Customer Service Director Dick Weishaar, Finance Lease Sales Manager Bob Francisco, Operations Director Bob Buffin and Used Car Director Ed Ceislak - all partici­pated in developing data for Xerox and in expediting placement of the or­der," Menendez said.

Hertz Car Leasing's staff worked closely with Ron Pink supplying data on Xerox fleet car costs and other in­formation at regular data sessions and in quarterly operating and planning and review meetings, which covered factors upon which Xerox based its decision.

"We are organized to mobilize a task force to help in providing service for customers and prospects who are contemplating major fleet car deci­sions," Menendez said.

He said the Xerox decision exem­plifies the capabilities and flexibility of the Hertz Car Leasing approach - keeping abreast of the needs of cus­tomers and potential customers, re­sponding quickly to meet those needs and following through with nation wide service capabilities.

In addition to separate sales staff, specializing in open-end and closed-end business, Hertz Car Leasing has recently expanded its customer ser­vice operations and each of the divi­sion's ten regional offices is staffed with customer service managers and coordinators.

The decision to turn its attention to the open-end side of the business came more than two years ago, shortly after Menendez was named to head Hertz Car Leasing.

"The growing sophistication of corporations such as Xerox in the car leasing field, coupled with new ac­counting regulations, plus higher level computer capability which is made possible by more modern electronic equipment all have contributed to the improved service which lease custom­ers now expect and receive," Menen­dez said.

"With the benefit of timely statis­tical data - and a mix of contract fea­tures - sounder key decisions can be reached more quickly and these deci­sions can be implemented more ex­peditiously," Menendez said.

Over the years, Hertz has developed such programs as limited, full, and managed maintenance contracts, var­ious insurance riders, tire replace­ment and tire assistance options, tem­porary vehicle services, used car pro­tection service, and individual em­ployee leasing programs.

"Such services are now available to either open-end or closed-end custom­ers," Menendez stressed. "While we feel complimented that the Xerox or­der points up our capability in serving the needs of large, nationwide custom­ers, our new flexibility can also be of benefit to companies with smaller fleets - and, of course, we are now also writing open-end contracts for individuals."

 

Coupon Cuts

Keeping control of the nationwide Xerox fleet is a massive effort requir­ing the continuous inflow of informa­tion on maintenance, car condition and costs. One part of Ron Pink's con­trol program is the Vehicle Asset Tracking System (VAT) which involves both field managers and Xerox's Infor­mation Systems Group headquarters staff. With VAT, Pink is able to know almost instantly what kinds of costs a particular vehicle is incurring - and why.

The Xerox-designed system permits Pink to obtain, without delay, such vital fleet information as current odo­meter readings, maintenance costs of given vehicles and anticipated effects of the used car market on specific vehi­cle values. The VAT system especially proves itself when major fleet trans­actions such as the current Impala deal are being made.

Another aspect of Ron Pink's pen­chant for complete fleet control is use of the Mileage Consultants, Inc., Pre­ventive Maintenance Plan. Under the plan, each driver is issued a coupon book which is redeemable for service at any Firestone, General Tire, Good­year, B.F. Goodrich or Uniroyal facil­ity.

The system is good for the routine maintenance procedures such as oil changes, lubes, tire rotations and the like. It also covers tuneups when they are required and provides for the re­placement of tires under special order­ing procedures.

The MCI system makes routine maintenance easy and reliable for the fleet driver, while giving Pink an instant follow-up capability to know which car is being properly maintained and which driver is demonstrating "forget-fulness." After the coupons are re­deemed for service, they are sent to Pink's office for information analysis.