André FIGUEIREDO has just been reappointed as head of the Association Européenne des Concessionnaires Peugeot (AECP; European Association of Peugeot Dealers), for the three-year period 2024-2026, a position he has held since his original appointment, in December 2020. The officialization took place yesterday, December 11th, as part of the annual meeting of this association that that was held in the Austrian capital, maintaining it as the main face of European dealers of the Peugeot brand, representing their interests within the Stellantis Group.
At 46 years old, André FIGUEIREDO, President of APOCOP (Portuguese Association of Peugeot Dealers) for 10 years, Member of the Board of Directors of the ACAP Retail Division and CEO of Grupo Automóveis do Mondego / Corvauto, was the first Portuguese businessman appointed to lead this entity which represents a dealer network spread across 14 European countries.
Members of the AECP also elected 5 Vice-Presidents; Simon BAILES (UK), Thomas FALLY (Austria), Massimo LOVERA (Italy), César MARCO ECHÁVARRI (Spain), Christophe MAUREL (France), and 1 Treasurer; Eric TAK (Netherlands). Finally, and to complete the Executive Committee, General Secretary Thibault LEBERT and President of the Elders’ Council, Jean-Paul BAILLY remain in their respective positions.
A first three years of difficulties overcome together and with great success
André FIGUEIREDO considers his first term, the first of a Portuguese person at the head of the entity that represents all Peugeot brand networks in Europe, as “three very challenging years, but a very difficult and intense work was done, together with the networks of the different countries involved and with the Peugeot brand itself, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Multiple difficulties that we managed to overcome together and with great success.”
In addition to this external factor, André FIGUEIREDO highlights another internal factor, related to the new distribution model chosen by Stellantis. “It was a process of enormous intensity within the scope of the negotiations, a work of enormous relevance that the network teams and the Stellantis teams knew how to develop together and which, in my opinion, will cover a large part of the interests of all those involved. In this very innovative joint process, I highlight Stellantis’ ability to involve us in different negotiations, to better structure this new distribution model.”
“Peugeot networks in Europe are very strong and have a very high level of maturity, requiring us to monitor very intensely and constantly work with the Central Teams of Peugeot Europe, always keeping in mind the desired balance between the ambitions of the Peugeot brand, which are very high, and the work carried out by the networks on this continent”, added the Portuguese businessman, responsible for AECP’s.
Electrification and new business model: complementary vectors in the objectives of the new three-year period
Re-elected for a new period of three years, from 2024 to 2026, and at a time when electrification establishes ever deeper roots as a vector of today’s automobile business, André FIGUEIREDO points out as a priority objective: “the monitoring of networks in this new reality that the sector is undergoing constant and rapid transformation at all levels, with clear influence on the entire automotive market”.
In the face of undeniable evidence in terms of electrification, as evidenced by the growing sales numbers of vehicles with some type of solution (MHEV, PHEV and 100% BEV) in the tables of different countries and in the European market as a whole, whether at At the level of private cars, as well as commercial vehicles, from the light to heavy segments, we must look at this new reality with different eyes, particularly in terms of monitoring it in terms of the necessary infrastructure.
“Ahead of us are the implementation of this new vehicle distribution model in Europe that Stellantis is implementing for all its brands and which will have a huge impact on the way we will work in the near future.”
André FIGUEIREDO underlines that: “In my opinion, the evolution towards an accelerated electrification process of the vehicle fleet and everything that new technologies are bringing to the business is a process that, in European terms, is happening too quickly. Proper overall planning was not carried out, particularly in the political domain. At a time when all manufacturers have invested and continue to invest millions of euros in development and scale capacity for electric vehicles, there has not been, behind this financial investment, a defined plan that allows for proper monitoring”.
“We realized that the progress to which we were all subjected is not monitored in terms of installation and the capacity of the loading structures themselves. Spain is one of the greatest examples of this unfortunate reality, something that extends to most other countries, namely those that already have a very significant electrified car park, a situation that proves to be a tremendous risk for all agents, which is why it must be rethought urgently”, highlights this responsible.
“All these issues have to be addressed and very well monitored, and together with the Peugeot brand, we will try to design the best balance so that together we can better control and lead all these variables”, concludes André FIGUEIREDO.
About the Association Européenne des Concessionnaires Peugeot (AECP):
Our members are groups representing dealers of Automobiles PEUGEOT or its subsidiaries in a member country of the European Economic Community (EEC) where Automobiles Peugeot markets its products and provides services directly or through its import subsidiaries.