Abel Leathem

Experience

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  JATO Dynamics

  Feb 1994 - May 1996

  Researcher

  I was initially employed at JATO Dynamics as an automotive industry researcher. My chief responsibility was to track specification and price changes on a range of vehicles sold in the UK market. This data had to be checked by the individual researcher through reference to the relevant manufacturer’s brochures and technical publications, and through direct contact with technical staff in those companies. The data was then compiled and maintained by myself on a specific database system. Although directed by a research manager, my day-to-day work as a researcher required a good deal of self-discipline to ensure that my time was spread effectively over a large number of on-going research tasks.In November 1994 I was promoted to the position of Assistant Database Manager. This involved me in collating and checking data from the 24 countries the company currently researched, then compiling this for onward distribution to our customers. The work involves concentrated attention to detail to meet frequent deadlines and to assure 100% data accuracy.A secondary responsibility has been the development of a historical specifications database for the company. This allows the evolution of specific vehicles to be followed within a country so that the user can observe the addition of enhancements and the positioning of a product relative to others. As the Assistant Database Manager I dealt directly with international customers to answer queries both on the content of the data we provide and the use it is put to. Show less

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  Daewoo Cars Ltd

  May 1996 - May 2000

  Quality and Reliability Analyst

  My main responsibilities at Daewoo Cars Ltd were to analyse the AA vehicle breakdowns and warranty claims and identify which are the most common failing parts and the reasons for their failure. This information was then fed back to Daewoo Motor Co. in order to assist in the quality improvements of the vehicles. I was then responsible for the editing and publication of Service Bulletins detailing In-Service fixes and repair methods.In addition to this I was responsible for receiving and editing Service Manuals, Owners Manuals and Service Guides before publication. For this I learned to use Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Pagemaker and Interleaf Desktop Publishing software.In August 1997 an internal Intranet was set up by the company to facilitate communications with the sales network and I was responsible for the Commercial Operations section of this Website. This involved learning to use Microsoft’s Frontpage software.From April 1999 I took on responsibility for Type Approval enquiries for Daewoo Cars Ltd., which entailed verifying the Type Approval status of the vehicle and issuing a Certificate of Conformity, if applicable. I was also been involved in obtaining Ministers Approval Certificates for vehicle enhancements and underwent a two-day homologation training course at Daewoo Motor Worthing Technical Centre. Show less

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  Virgin Cars Ltd

  May 2000 - Feb 2004

  Supply and Pricing Supervisor

  My main responsibility as the Supply & Pricing supervisor was to ensure the specification of every car we sold was correctly displayed on the website for the customer. This is done through the use of the JATO Dynamics specification database and thorough crosschecking with the car manufacturers brochures and websites.It also entailed analysing the purchase cost of the vehicles and ensuring the sale price covers all costs and the required target profit margin and is competitive to both the manufacturers’ prices and major car supermarkets. To this end I was involved with the IT Department to design and develop a bespoke software system to manage the specifications and prices of all vehicles which Virgin Cars sold which required me to learn basic SQL programming.In addition I was responsible for supervising the work of the customer order processing team to ensure the customer orders were processed in a timely and accurate manner to ensure orders were placed with the supplying dealers correctly and that the orders were tracked to ensure they were delivered to customers on time and to the correct specification. I was also involved with the Marketing Department of Virgin Cars to ensure the best cars are chosen for advertising and that they were described accurately and in such a fashion as to draw prospective customers to the website or retail store. Show less

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  General Motors

  Mar 2004 - Dec 2015

  Product Planning & Pricing, Market Analysis. Vehicle Launch.As Product Manager my responsibilities include the specification and pricing discussions of all Chevrolet vehicles on sale in the UK including liaison with the Chevrolet Europe Product Planning and Finance teams on vehicle ordering harmonisation and vehicle pricing. I am heavily involved in several pan-European Task Force Teams on the harmonisation of specifications across Europe and the introduction of new models to the European market. During this period I managed the launch of the Chevrolet Trax into the UK market including briefing journalists during the international press launch in Croatia.In addition during 2012-2013 I was one of the lead personnel for the Chevrolet UK Systems Integration project into GM Global Systems. During this period I was responsible for the setup of the Chevrolet UK data in the Global vehicle ordering, finance and registration systems and the data transfer of live & historic vehicles from the Chevrolet UK legacy systems (Kerridge) into the GM Global Systems. Show less Vehicle Ordering, Stock Management, AFRL Registration Administration.As Order to Delivery Manager I was responsible for the day to day management of Chevrolet UK stock levels including managing the allocation of stock to dealers, managing the UK stock pipeline with the European Central office to ensure Chevrolet UK had the correct stock to meet national sales targets and managing the UK Dealer Registration systems to ensure dealers could register vehicles correctly and easily.During this period I was responsible for the system development to allow Chevrolet North American vehicles into the UK vehicle ordering & registration systems (the first European market to achieve this). Show less Product Planning & Pricing, Market Analysis. Vehicle Launch.As Senior Product Analyst my responsibilities included the specification and pricing discussions of all Chevrolet vehicles since 2006 including liaison with the Chevrolet Europe Product Planning and Finance teams on vehicle ordering harmonisation and vehicle pricing. During the period February 2007 to August 2007 I was required to perform the majority of the day-to-day workload of the Product Manager as the position was vacant and during this period assisted in launching the Captiva into the UK market. I was heavily involved in several pan-European Task Force Teams on the harmonisation of specifications across Europe and the introduction of new models to the European market (including Aveo, Epica, Captiva, Cruze, Spark and Orlando along with other new models). In addition I coordinated with the European Technical Centre on Homologation issues regarding the import of GM Daewoo / Chevrolet vehicles into the UK, which involves frequent communication with VOSA and the SMMT. Since March 2008 I was a member of the GM UK cross brand CO2 Taskforce both representing Chevrolet UK and providing the analytical support for the taskforce. Show less Competitive Parts Pricing & Parts Sales Forecasting.As Aftersales Analyst my main responsibility was to develop a departmental reporting system to monitor the sales performance of the parts and accessories. This involved interrogating the various company database systems (including Kerridge, Cognos and MS Access) and combining the data into easily understandable reports. I was also responsible for monitoring the prices of the various accessories of the competition to ensure our prices are competitive and profitable and ensuring our accessories is marketed correctly. This role then grew to being involved in the creation of new part numbers on the Kerridge system and was the primary role in the parts pricing process including liaison with Chevrolet Europe Parts Pricing team. I was also involved in formulating the 2005 and 2006 Aftersales Budgets and introducing the Parts Sales Bonus Programme into Chevrolet UK. Show less

  • Product Manager, Chevrolet UK Ltd

    Feb 2013 - Dec 2015

  • Order to Delivery Manager, Chevrolet UK Ltd

    Apr 2012 - Jan 2013

  • Fleet Sales Development Manager, Chevrolet UK Ltd

    Aug 2010 - Mar 2012

  • Senior Product Analyst, Chevrolet UK Ltd

    Jan 2006 - Jul 2010

  • Parts Pricing & Forecasting, GM Daewoo UK Ltd

    Mar 2004 - Dec 2005
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  JATO Dynamics

  Jan 2016 - now

  Automotive Product Manager