The New Reinventors: nothing stays still at road warrior Premcar

In today’s installment of our current series, The New Reinventors, we hear from Bernie Quinn, Engineering Director and Partner at automotive engineering business Premcar.

A couple of weeks ago Premcar started the line at a new factory, where it produces its Nissan Navara Warrior and Nissan Patrol Warrior range.

First as Tickford Vehicle Engineering, then Prodrive Automotive Technology Australia and then as Premcar, the company has been through several eras and is once again in a growth phase. 

Engineering Director Bernie Quinn uses an uncharitable cockroach comparison describing Premcar’s ability to survive, and credits the longevity to constant reinvention. Even at the best of times, nothing is or should be static.

“It’s not something that remains very stable for very long if you’re going to optimise your business. We’re going through another phase now too, as an example, we’re growing quickly,” he tells us.

“So all of those changes that are caused by let’s call it external factors – increase in demand, change in landscape, change in consumer tastes – you have to adapt your company’s capabilities, skills, processes and policies for all of those changes. And it’s not something that stays still.”

This series is sponsored by Fusion5. Download Fusion5’s free eBook — Manufacturing: The New Reinventors — at this link.

By their count, the company has developed and produced over 200,000 new vehicles since 2001. First through niche offerings for Ford (as well as some limited edition work for Mazda and Toyota), and now with a focus on engineering, development and secondary-stage manufacture for Nissan. There have also been defence projects, including on the Bushmaster and Hawkei for Thales. 

Quinn began at Prodrive in 2003. He and two other partners conducted a management buyout from the UK owners in 2012. 

“Ford wasn’t producing 100,000 cars, it was producing more like 25,000 cars… so the need for our company to assist Ford at that time really fell away,” recalls Quinn. 

“[Prodrive] decided they would rather not be here for that shrunken demand for their services and products.”

Nowadays, according to Premcar, the company is bigger than it was when the focus was Ford Performance Vehicles.

It expects the new Epping factory, which opened in June and is a short distance from the main Engineering and Production Centre, to create over 100 new jobs.

Quinn believes a major issue in this era will be adapting the company’s culture – tight-knit, low employee turnover, obsessive attention to detail – as it takes on more staff.

“It’s a huge challenge, because now… this culture [exists] where we’ve said ‘be across everything, just get it done, no excuses’ for our people who… have been part of the family, so to speak, for 20 years,” he explains. 

“We now have to unwind that a bit and say ‘okay, a little bit less doing, more governing and leading.’ That’s a culture change, and culture change is easy to talk about, hard to implement.”

This episode of @AuManufacturing Conversations with Brent Balinski serves as a preview for our October 5 webinar on manufacturers reinventing themselves, held in partnership with Fusion5. Bernie Quinn will be appearing on a panel, moderated by @AuManufacturing editor Peter Roberts, alongside:

• Dario Valenza, Founder of Carbonix;
• Ross George, Managing Director at Austeng;
• Michael Llewellyn, Industry Director Operations at Fusion5; and
• Craig Potter, Solution Architect at Fusion5

Book a spot for the free October 5, 11 am AEDT event here

Episode guide

0:50 – An introduction to Bernie Quinn, Premcar, and the company’s three manufacturing divisions.

2:33 – Some company history and some changes brought on by the shrinking of the local car industry.

4:40 – Quinn and two partners buy the company off its then-UK owner.

5:35 – “We are constantly reinventing ourselves. It’s not something that remains very stable for very long.”

7:44 – The importance of culture in reinvention.

8:45 – The personal touch is important, but it doesn’t scale perfectly when the company is growing rapidly.

10:55 – Some thoughts on the pluses and minuses of operating an automotive business in Australia, and some ideas on how to increase manufacturing activity in that sector.

Further reading

Premcar begins production of Nissan Patrol Warrior at new factory

Premcar develops chassis, suspension for reimagined classic Ford

Premcar expands its Australian new-car manufacturing

Premcar launches its latest modified Nissan Patrol Warrior – video

Australia’s 50 most innovative manufacturers revealed

The new reinventors: learn about manufacturers who’ve pivoted at this October 5 web event

Picture: credit Premcar/Youtube