Survey and Prognosis

The LeasePlan BBM-expert, Ing. Rudolf Luxbacher, always keeps a watchful eye on the “magic triangle”: brand, quality, and costs.
Currently, approximately 9,100 models in the segment under 3.5 tons are offered on the market in Austria. In parallel the needs of fleet customers are also getting more and more specific.  By means of its Best Brand Management (BBM) LeasePlan has developed a tool which helps coordinate the wide range of vehicles offered with the specific needs of individual fleet customer, so that the optimum decision for a particular car can be taken.

BBM is based on a clearly organized picture-database consisting of fleet-suited vehicles, structured according to car classes and brands. This system enables the customer to easily identify the relevant alternatives within a particular class.
In a second stage, each of the vehicles contained in this database was evaluated according to the following six criteria:

•    Overall vehicle costs
•    Safety (crash-test results, etc....)
•    Interior space, wheelbase 
•    Customer-friendliness (network density of repair shops, etc...)
•    Image (employee motivation, etc...)
•    Environmental friendliness (emissions, etc...)

In each of these categories the evaluation results for the vehicles are obtained on the basis of a large number of pre-defined criteria according to a mathematical system, with results for the individual criteria being based on objective facts collected from various acknowledged data sources (e.g. points scored in the standardized Euro NCAP crash test). The “Image” criterion was the only one where a certain degree of subjectivity was unavoidable. However, the result is still strictly unbiased, since it is based on the average established from evaluations by a mixed committee of vehicle experts and non-experts.

By considering the results of the relevant categories individually and by weighing them against each other in a flexible way, it is possible to find the optimum vehicle for each individual customer. Detailed information is available about all the shortlisted models. For models which have just been launched on the market, so that no statistically ascertained data as well as facts and figures based on past experience are available as yet, projections are made. This is particularly important since one cannot reasonably expect car dealer employees who either sell only one or - at best – just a few brands to come up with really objective and unbiased comparisons. BBM tells you which car can really be considered your personal “Best Buy”.

Antiquated “Car Policies“ might cause you to take decisions with blinders on
Once established, the car policies of some companies oblige the purchasing department to buy certain brands. However, if the manufacturer chooses to change the model, this might already lead to the exact opposite of what the policy was originally intended. In addition to that, it is impossible to make full use of potentials if most of the cars cannot even be taken into consideration because on is bound to the brand(s) stipulated by the car-policy.

This is the day-to-day business of the Automotive Purchase Manager: Together with the Account Manager, Mr. Luxbacher establishes a range of cars that corresponds to the requirements, needs and the budget of the customer.

Ing. Rudolf Luxbacher
Born on January 15, 1964 at Altötting in Bavaria, he now lives in Baden near Vienna.
He graduated from the HTL (Technical College) Mödling, majoring in automobile construction and engineering. While doing his military service as a driver of heavy load trucks, he was able to apply his immense interest in vehicles of all kinds in practice and gain first-hand experience. His entire career has exclusively been car-focussed: Starting out as a salesman of new cars for Porsche Wien Liesing, he gained broad leasing know-how while working for Österreichische Leasing GmbH (now called BA-CA Leasing) and for the ÖAMTC (Austrian Motorists' Club) where he was also responsible for insurances.

In 1999 Mr. Luxbacher joined LeasePlan, and during his year in the sales department, where he worked as head of the automobile service department, he acted as a "liaison officer" between LeasePlan and the repair and tire shops. By October 1, 2003, he became Automotive Purchase Manager, thus being responsible for the all car-related purchases.

Contacts:
Ing. Rudolf Luxbacher, Tel. 01 60102-306, rudolf.luxbacher@leaseplan.at