Larry Dominique is chairman and CEO of Atlanta-based PSA North America. With its main headquarters in France, Groupe PSA (Peugeot Société Anonyme) is a global automaker producing the Peugeot, Citroën and DS nameplates along with owning the Free 2 Move international mobility services division and other industry entities.
Plans to begin marketing Peugeot vehicles in the U.S. are moving forward with a tentative target date of 2023.
Having earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan, Dominique has had a distinguished career in the automotive industry. Prior to joining PSA in February 2017 he served as an OEM consultant in numerous capacities.
Additionally he has held executive positions at ALG (formerly Automotive Lease Guide), TrueCar and Nissan North America.
While declining to comment on the ongoing PSA/FCA merger negotiations, Dominique exclusively answered a series of questions recently posed by Aftermarket Business World:
What are the details of your “Push to Pass” initiative?
Push to Pass is the global Groupe PSA 2016 to 2021 corporate plan. There are several pillars which affect North America. First is the introduction of Mobility Services. This began in Washington, D.C. with car sharing and we are now expanding into B2B connected fleet services and fleet sharing software. All mobility is under our Free2Move brand.
Second is the introduction of automotive retailing in North America, and third is our global independent aftermarket businesses. All of these are slated for North America.
When do you intend to start marketing cars in the U.S.?
Although not locked down, we have stated we expect to begin sales of Peugeot in 2023. However, that isn’t dependent only upon having homologated vehicles; we must also make certain our unique distribution and quality processes are ready as well. We will launch ultimately when we believe we are ready to launch.
What are some of the main factors that you are considering in making the move?
Groupe PSA is Euro-centric and a key point of Push to Pass is global expansion. For PSA this is focused upon India and North America. North America is 20 million sales per year and the most profitable new car retail and independent aftermarket business in the world.
Have you selected which metro markets are to be first with the inaugural American dealerships?
We have announced our plan to scale it gradually with 15 U.S. states representing 62 percent of national sales and four Canadian provinces representing 84 percent of Canadian sales in the first four years
What are the qualifications to become a Peugeot dealer?
We have not yet detailed our distribution plans. We have announced we will be franchise-compliant, but as a greenfield we have a unique opportunity to innovate and focus on a digital experience.
Will all the dealerships include service centers?
The current four-square brick and mortar dealerships are under stress as margins shrink and expenses rise. We are focusing on separation of retail and service. So we have not yet discussed our strategy in this area, but it will be customer-focused and innovative.
Is your Eurorepar chain of service centers going to be entering the U.S.?
As part of Push to Pass we are globally expanding the Eurorepar-branded private label parts as well as service centers. We recently expanded to both China and South America. North America would be a natural expansion path.
Has PSA started planning its U.S. repair-parts distribution network yet? Have your warehouse distributors been selected?
This is in study now. As an OEM we do not want to build a bunch of warehouses. We wish to partner with innovative and like-minded partners who are logistics experts. This doesn’t necessarily mean existing automotive logistics providers; there are many other verticals that are leading the way in logistics and cost containment.
What are the qualifications for a U.S.-based provider of parts and/or services to become a PSA vendor?
It is too early to discuss qualifications.
What is the application process for a potential supplier?
We have a global procurement process where any potential vendor can register into the Groupe PSA system.
Do you have plans to build a production plant in the U.S.?
The North American market has over capacity today, and this drives inherently poor market behaviors -- driving both price dispersion as well as customer dissatisfaction. We have stated that we will launch using importation and consider industrialization only when our sales volumes clearly support production. There is no hurry.
