Bosch's new technician training centre has laid a path for the evolution of aftersales and will serve to encourage “pride in the brand”, Group Renault’s Mark Crockett has said.

Crockett, who is the manufacturer’s director of total customer experience, said that the new site will ensure young technicians are set on the path towards working on electrified vehicles and autonomous cars of the future and also aid retention by growing their “their affiliation with the brand”.

Bosch’s 36,846 square foot facility in Doncaster will train technicians for Nissan, Renault and Suzuki and was officially opened by the Rt Hon Dame Rosie Winterton MP, Member of Parliament for Doncaster Central, last month.

The centre includes eight workshop areas and 12 classrooms and will provide training to around 300 apprentices throughout 2018.

Crockett said that helping the brand’s retail network to recruit, retain and develop the right people is the basic foundation of building that customer experience. He added: “We want to set standards so that when delegates and apprentices return to their dealerships they’re inspired by what they’ve experienced to continue and have pride in the brand.

“You work where you feel comfortable, you work where you enjoy and you value the brand, so here we value the brand and we see that transfer to the delegates, making them proud of the brand they work for and building their loyalty to the dealership.

“The more skills we give people, the better they do their job and more efficient they are, meaning they earn more money in an environment that they’re proud of. That all contributes towards building their retention to our brand and their dealerships.”

Crockett said that it was also essential that technicians within the franchised network were at the forefront of new technologies at a time of considerable change.

He said: “It’s exponential the evolution that we have seen in the last five years. We’ve gone from cars where you’ve had to do everything to cars where you have to do less and less and if we look at the roadmap of technology that we’re applying to the products, in five years we’ll have autonomous driving cars. Maybe not to level five, but to level four, so we have to anticipate what’s going to happen and make the investment now so we’re ready for that. Electric vehicles is step zero in that process.”

Group Renault retailers are currently embarking on a five-year mid-term plan which places brand and experience at the heart of dealers’ operations.

Crockett said that there was “a clear understanding” within the network that the philosophy revolves around the recruitment and retention of the right people for their businesses.

Crockett said: “We’re doing this in the UK because I think we understand that customers’ needs are changing.

“We’re a big organisation with 200 dealers and we’ve got to share that vision with everyone and it will take time to get everyone onboard.”