Sales to turn to kilometres
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• The days of selling trucks will soon be over, according to David Thomas, Mercedes-Benz director, commercial vehicles. "We are witnessing the most fundamental changes in how we sell and operate trucks", he says. "By the end of this millennium—possibly in just two or three years time—you will not be asking how many trucks we have sold but, how many kilometres. Truck marketing will soon be completely different, we won't sell a single vehicle. We will be involved in the whole life of the truck, releasing the vehicle to the first user, taking them back, refurbishing, re-using or re-cycling them and maybe exporting them to a third world operator eventually." Thomas acknowledged that such a change would be particularly demanding on sales staff, used to selling only trucks. He concluded, "Anyone in our business who has failed to see these changes coming, or has failed to grasp the implications of the revolution that is taking place, will surely fall by the wayside."