April 2020 PerformancePost #4

Welcome to the fourth ÄLG PerformancePost - a monthly feature for 2020. Expect to hear about new products, offers, updates and announcements right here.

Coronavirus lockdown continues to slow our operations. We are reliant on delivery and fulfilment services to operate, and a UK-wide lockdown is impacting our ability to trade. 

One of our biggest issues at the moment remains international shipping. We are currently unable to have anything air freighted due to the lack of capacity within the logistics networks. Air freight capacity is at a premium and it is not cost-effective to have all but small items air freighted at the moment. International shipping is possible but the delivery times are not great.

This causes an immediate problem for us now, where we have carbon bonnets arriving this week, but no way to have them exported internationally yet. We are in contact with a freight agent who may be able to assist with arranging a LTL container to the states where we can locally dispatch.

We are going to be contacting international customers at time of dispatch to arrange economy shipping, or to discuss adjustments to the shipping rate.

Regrettably, some more customers have cancelled their orders during April but we are pleased to say that all refunds have been processed and we are still in the black. In all cases so far, the product supplier has already been paid & so we end up out of pocket for double the amount. We are banking on the surplus products being sold within a few months anyway, so it at least allows us to increase our stock levels. We still ask that you please consider how this affects our business when requesting cancellations, we are very much so struggling.

PRODUCT NEWS

Volvo C30 Facelift & Pre-Facelift Grilles

Grilles are done. We are ready but unfortunately unable to import them from the factory due to the current air freight costs. To mitigate this, we are having more grilles manufactured so that the cost is better divided up. We are currently seeing an import cost of 3-4x normal which would make it cheaper for us to refund all customers than to import & distribute at the moment. We have explored air freighting smaller batches of grilles but the costs are higher per piece. Physical shipping is an option but the 6-8 week lead time is something we want to avoid - we understand that customers have waited long enough already. With a larger batch, we can break even on these goods. Thank you for your continued patience with us here.

Volvo V40 Grilles
All Volvo V40 Grilles completed manufacture and were loaded onto a shipment on the 28th March. This shipment container aboard the Ever Glory vessel is docked in Felixtowe, UK port right now (May 3rd). This means the containers are being unloaded and we are expecting to have the goods devanned this week. Dispatch to customers is imminent, as the goods are already on UK soil.

Additionally, we are including black vinyl strips to cover the bodywork exposed when fitting the grille. We haven't been able to test if the size is perfect but we will supply a different size if needed.

Thank you for your continued patience.

P1 Carbon Bonnets
The latest batch of Volvo C30/S40/V50 Carbon Bonnets are also complete and shipped in the same container load as the V40 Grilles. This shipment container aboard the Ever Glory vessel is docked in Felixtowe, UK port right now (May 3rd). This means the containers are being unloaded and we are expecting to have the goods devanned this week. Dispatch to customers is imminent, as the goods are already on UK soil. We have ordered the ISPM export crates and are awaiting delivery of the bonnets.

UK Bonnets will be delivered palletised now, as we found it is quicker and safer.

C30 Halo Kits
Due to the Coronavirus shutting down our supply chain for the C30 Halo Kits, we suffered delays in delivering this product. We have restocked these kits and the kits are once again selling fast - our next batch will be delivered towards the end of the month and will be our largest batch yet.

We have also spoken to the supplier regarding the reliability of the voltage regulators used in the products. Extra checks are taking place at their end to 

Volvo C30 STCC-Style Arches
We took delivery of the prototypes this month and have been test fitting them. Development on the pop-clips is ongoing. At present, our composites specialist is closed so we are taking this time to perfect the 3D model for a 2nd prototype.

So far, we have tested various 3D printed clip shapes and sizes and although some are effective, they are not very durable. Alternative methods of attachment are being developed in order to utilise the yellow Volvo rings. We must be aware that wind loading will stress these arches and if our attachment method is not secure enough, they could become loose. A number of cancellations has impacted our ability to develop on this as quickly as we'd like. But thank you to everyone that is sticking with us. 

AWD Fuel Pirate
We received the new

This is a back-burner project so receives only a small amount of development each month but it is still progressing. New board is on the right - with a test board on the left. The new PCB has a different programming header, an on-board crystal and a different digital potentiometer. Coding is in progress. 

SUPPLIERS

We are reaching out to some interesting companies with the goal of expanding our product range to include flywheel & clutches, brake systems, oil coolers and suspension products. Can't reveal more at the moment but watch this space. 

Due to the uncertainty surrounding the virus, shipping concerns and safety, we announced a few weeks ago that we are no longer offering Elevate products to customers. Elevate run a tight operation and are heavily affected by this. We expect their order book to be full for at least several months so will re-assess later in the year.

As we mentioned last month, we teamed up with FulfilmentCrowd to streamline storage, handling & dispatch of products. FulfilmentCrowd have a warehouse local to us that we have products stored in. If an order is placed of a product we store there, it is automatically picked up by their computer system, packed and dispatched the same day (weekday orders before 3pm). Many UK orders are therefore available with Next Day or 2-Day delivery, fully tracked and insured. Currently, they stock our C30 Halo Kits, S40/V50 Halo Kits, Driveshaft Spacers and ÄLG Performance Lowering Springs. 

 EVENTS

Calendar for ÄLG Performance attended events this year so far looks like this:

• All event promotion is suspended indefinitely.
• Events are being cancelled or dates moved all the time.
• We will re-release an autumn/winter calendar when appropriate.

YouTube Channel
This year ÄLG Performance will begin producing video content for YouTube, including product installation guides, product test comparisons and performance tips. We will be working with local talent to record and professionally edit these videos, look forward to an announcement soon.