The reasoning behind AS-PL’s no old core returns

AS-PL, as part of its drive for a sustainable planet and to align with its environmental and green credentials, employs a no ‘old core’ return policy when customers purchase any remanufactured product. Kevin Sharp, regional sales director, UK and Ireland, reveals why:

To further enhance the product offering, there is also a ‘no surcharge’ or ‘old core levy’ applied to remanufactured product – it is treated as an outright purchase, just as purchasing a new item would be. As we export to well over 100 countries worldwide, it is just not cost-effective, sustainable or ‘green’ to then move all that old core back across the planet. The environmental advantages of remanufacturing can be significantly diminished by the ecological impact of transporting old cores back to their origin. This consideration has been a core principle of the AS philosophy for many years.

This proposition provides tangible benefits to you in four distinct ways:

• It gives the customer the choice of remanufactured or new, which, in many markets, is now becoming a major part of the purchasing decision.
• The lack of a surcharge or old core levy reduces the financial burden on you when stocking the product, as you do not have an invisible cost to your business – this also has a knock-on beneficially and financially to the enduser or purchaser, as they also do not have to return the old core either, which reduces unnecessary transport and all the associated costs.
• Having new and remanufactured offers within the whole portfolio allows us to create one of the largest ranges of starter motors and alternators available in the aftermarket. As many are aware, solely depending on the availability of new units will result in significant gaps in your capacity to meet the continuously expanding demand for a diverse range of vehicles in circulation.
• Offering a range of remanufactured products without surcharges also contributes to providing a tiered selection to the market. While the decision on which references to remanufacture was not initially driven by the intention to offer a competitively priced alternative to new units, it does, in some cases, create a tiered offering where customers may opt for the more cost-effective option, whether it’s remanufactured or new. Eliminating surcharges simplifies the decision-making process for you.

From the feedback we have gained over many years, the drawback regarding remanufactured product wasn’t the fact that they were seen as a poor relation to new; it was the old core and the surcharge associated with the remanufactured product that was always the issue.

Many years ago, we removed these issues, and this has benefited us. Most customers will now purchase remanufactured without any second thought, as they would if purchasing a new unit.