Who Should Sell Commercial Motor Vehicles?
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The Claim of Pleasure-car Agents.
"The sale of commercial vehicles of all classes can best be effected through accredited pleasure-vehicle agents." This proposition formed the subject of debate before the Motor Trades Debating society, held at the Royal Automobile Club on Wednesday (lath December). Mr. A. R. Atkey, chairman of the Agents' Section, Ltd., presided.
The Rights of the Middleman.
Mr. St. Clair Duncan, opening the discussion, said it would be well to first view the question in the broad aspect. Too few of them realized what a future there was before the commercial motor vehicle, and too many considered the commercial motor vehicle as a side line, whereas they would at the close realize that it was the backbone of business, or, if it was not the mainstay already, it soon would be. Having enlarged on the possibilities of expansion of motor-propelled transport and the potential scope that lay before the business, Mr Duncan descended to the particular point before them. The proposition, he suggested, was in the nature of a" fishing inquiry"; for they had, many of them, attended that night to learn something about the commercial motor industry, because it was in a state of comparative chaos at the moment. He had a vague and misty idea of how commercial ears were sold. He knew some were sold direct from maker to user, while in other cases a middleman stepped in, but the trade was not in a satisfactory position such as was the pleasure-car trade. He trusted they would be able to settle upon some guiding principle for the future industry to follow instead of the present absurd, unsatisfactory method. The speaker quoted a letter from a Lincoln agent (R. M. Wright) in which it wds stated that commercial vehicles should be sold to legitimate agents and no discounts should be given to a purchasing user, nor cab proprietor, nor manufacturing firm, and he held that that was a pertinent comment upon the situation. Personally, he never did understand why the user of commercial vehicles was able to get discounts and corresponding advantages which were denied to the pleasure-car user. There was no logic in it. While he did not wish to go deeply into the point, he put it forward as one of the utmost importance, and one which must influence the pleasure-car dealer's decision on the question of commercial car agencies. It seemed to him that if the commercial car manufacturers desired to avail themselves of the vast and efficient organization of the pleasure-car dealer they would have to come to a decision on the abuse complained of. Mr. Duncan concluded by giving some reasons why the pleasurecar agent was the best medium for the sale of cornmercial vehicles of all sorts. The first was that the business was increasing at such a, rate that other things being equal it was best to utilize existing machinery, rather than set up new. Secondly. the private-car dealer who was already established was in the best possible position to understand local re quirements and conditions. Thirdly, that motor dealers most necessarily have technical knowledge and must keep abreast of the times, and this pleasure-ear dealers were doing. Again, many of the pleasure-car dealers' customers were still using horse-drawn vehicles for commercial work, and there arose many opportunities for the agents to emphasize the advantages to be gained by using motor-propelled vehicles. A further reason was that many, if not most, manufacturers of private motorcars also produced business motors, and to them it would be an advantage to have one agent to handle both classes of production : and lastly (and negatively), if there were one agent for a particular car in a town handling, say, a Jones corn
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inercial car, and another agent in the same town handling a Jones pleasure car, difficulties and jealousies would ne inevitable, and the position would not conduce to good business.
The Lessons of Experiences with Agents.
Mr. Philpott, who opposed the resolution, agreed that there was no clout that the commercial motor vehicle trade was very important and might very soon be the mainstay of tee motor trade. incidentally he remarked he would really have preaerrect to have oeen speaking on the other side, but as he was appointed to take up the opposite position, for the purposes of ciebate, he would do his best. First he criticised the form of proposal which stated that private-car agents would be the best distributors ot "every class of commercial vehicles," which meant from the light pareckar to the five-tonner and steam wagon—a very big list. From his observation of the trade he concluded that the commercial-vehicle trade passed by the pleasure-car agent a good many years ago, chiefly owing to the agents' limited facilities and lack of capital and, in many cases, lack of interest. Again, in the commercial-vehicle trade they were dealing with an entirely different class of purchaser from the purchaser of the pleasure car. The former was generally a class of hard-headed business men, principals of large establishments, as well as smaller tradesmen, and the trade appeared to the speaker to form a distinct branch oa motor business. If it were to be dealt with efficiently, so must it remain. Motorcar manufacturers who produced both classes of vehicles had invariably recognized that the pleasure-car agent could not adequately handle commercial vehicles, while commercial-car manufacturers never had made pleasure-car agents their agents. One reason why the direct trading complained of arose was that in many cases the users were the biggest firms in any particular district and the heads of those firms did not care to negotiate with the comparatively small local motor agent, but preferred to go direct to the manufacturer who could give facilities for demonstration work and could give better terms than could the local agent. Mr. Philpott then dealt with the question from three aspects. First he asked what was a commercial vehicle, and having shown that it comprised all sizes up to the five-tonner, he suggested that the proposition was in light of this "impossible and impracticable." The second point was : What were the essential, indispensable conditions for the sale of such cars ? These conditions were exacting, and he proceeded to enlarge on the necessity for the salesmen to have full and well-founded knowledge of running costs, mileage costs, petrol consumption, maintenance, driving and garage charges, tire mileage, estimating running contracts, etc., all of which were different from the-questions which arose when ctealing with pleasure cars. Again, there must be adequate facilities for show and demonstrations, quite distinct from those usual in the pleasure-car business ; there must be an exceptionally large garage.; special plant and equipment for large and heavy jobs, with overhead gear, and competent engineers and workmen.. It was also necessaTy. to make provision for training suitable men for driving, for the success of the commercial car depended largely on the competence of the driver ; a fact often overlooked. The agent would also have to be in a position to provide a reserve van or car. The third question was : Did the accredited pleasure-car agents possess the experience and qualifications and facilities essential to suecesaful trading in commercial vehicles ? The speaker had no hesitation in saying they did not.
(To be continued.)