VARIED DISPOSAL ROUTES
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MAN has struck a deal with ProTruck Auctions, based near Doncaster, to put vehicles regularly through its sales. The first one kicked off in November, the next is in January 2011.
The deal, says Rael Winetroube, means MAN TopUsed wholesale vehicles will go through a more varied disposal route to help push up values.
"We want to have multiple channels to trade, with ProTruck Auctions we will look (whenever possible) to run it once a month. We sold 24 vehicles at the first one."
"We had a good profile from vehicles worth 22,500 to an '06-plate worth £15,000. The typical tradevehicle made slightly more than we would normally get; there were some TGAs with high mileage that made more than we would normally see it was a good result," he says.
"Trade vehicles were bought predominantly by trade, a couple of TGA tractor units were bought by end users. The whole point of an auction is that it drives the prices up."
Key to going to auction was the marketing process. "We put a good selection of stock in there, most had been on R&M contracts and that was publicised. From an end user's or independent used truck dealer's point of view that is attractive stock they know where it's come from.
"Auction as a channel to market, managed properly, can work very well. It was branded and controlled. We worked up a head of steam and people went specifically to see," he says.
Winetroube allays trade fears that they might be frozen out. "We would like to develop a panel of trade partners that we deal with. The object is to have competitive and transparent channels, but to drive the prices up. If we rely on one person to buy our trucks, there is only one direction the price is going to go," he says. More than 60% of new sales have MAN Finance. about 35% of used trucks have the manufacturer's financial backing, and approximately 40% of trucks retailed to end users are sold with R&M. Winetroube would like to improve the latter two figures.
Financed by MAN
At the moment, TopUsed has 220 vehicles in stock. The lion's share of vehicles returning to TopUsed arrives through MAN's own finance company, followed by buy-back agreements and rental.
"By the end of this year, we will have sold 2,500 vehicles and will look to do the same next year. We are also looking to stimulate customers into changing over vehicles early.
"Where someone has a truck that is 30 months old that we financed, our sales team will talk to those customers and say 'that truck is a prime retail truck for us and we would like to look at terminating that vehicle's contract and putting you into a new one." he says.
"There will be no cost for returning the truck early, and sometimes the increase in rental can be negligible," although Winetroube says MAN TopUsed has to be careful how it manages this process. "Because the used market is buoyant, there are circumstances where we can terminate the existing contract."
Benefits for the operator include receiving a new, more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly truck. and it represents an opportunity for the customer to reassess specification or its fleet size.
MAN Rental, which the manufacturer launched into the UK earlier this year and has 1,000 vehicles on its books, will play an important part in delivering retailable stock to 'TopUsed. Winetroube is looking at its portfolio to see if any trucks could be brought early into TopUsed, placing the customers into new trucks.
Seeking stock
"We are also going into market and actively seeking stock, we are talking to (other) rental businesses, finance houses and contract hire companies." he says.
"As of today, we would be actively going out to buy two-year-old vehicles and paying a premium for them. We bring them in for refurbishment and sell them for good prices to customers," he says.
The much publicised new vehicle price hikes also dictate the used values. "If the price of a new 6x2 tractor dropped from /75,000 to £68,000 the used market would react very quickly. Especially on tractor units because they are so much more readily available. If you got a 12-month-old 18-tonner, the fact you physically have one and operators know a new chassis still has to have a body fitted to it, you are at more of an advantage," he says.
MAN is successful with tractors, and its 9.7% marketshare in the UK reflects this. Winetroube would like to see the manufacturer achieve better penetration at lower weights. "The TGL has the highest used vehicle value of any 7.5-tonner (according to CAP). We will look to stimulate the activities at the front end. The Utopia would be a third split between tractors, 26 to 18 tonnes and below 18 tonnes," he says.
However, the priority for MAN in the UK is to sell more new trucks, says Winetroube, but from a TopUsed point of view with a good mix across the weight ranges. mit