Scania takes used trucks on nationwide roadshow
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Forget new truck registrations: over the next five years the real battleground for manufacturers and their dealers will be how to dispose of their used trucks. Brian Weatherley reports on Scania's surprise salvo—a nationwide "Drive and Buy" roadshow.
• Between April and June operators will be invited to visit eight UK venues where they can check out up to 50 used Scanias and test drive selected models. If they find something they like they can even arrange finance on the spot and drive it away Some rivals might accuse the Swedish truck manufacturer of desperation, but Scania director Frank Andrew is adamant: "The main theme is, if the punter will not come to our yard, well take trucks to him".
Not that Scania has ever been shy about marketing its used trucks. In 1997 it launched its dealer-based Approved Used Truck Scheme, backed up a year later with the idiosyncratic "Any Old Iron" ads offering a £2,000 exchange deal on other makes.
And earlier this month it kicked off its "Three Snips from Scania" campaign, promoting leasing deals on used P and Rcab 3-Series tractors direct from the company's contracts wing, Scania Vehicle Management.
All a haulier has to provide up front is a road fund licence, a cheque for the first two months of the agreement and an Operator's Licence.
Regardless of what model is leased, an operator gets a fully prepared and tested tractor covered by a standard repair and maintenance contract for the 12-month lease. Unusually for this type of deal, worn tyres will be replaced through the contract period, which includes sixweekly safety inspections and 24hr roadside assistance.
And there's more, says Andrew. "In 12-months' time I'll tell him what it will cost to buy it." Typically on a "Snip 1" P113-320 4x2 sleeper tractor that will be around £8,500.
With 'Three Snips" Scania gets three financial bites of the cherry: the first from the original SVM customer; the sec
ond from the "Three Snips" lessee; and the third from the end-of-contract vehicle buyer. But Andrew stresses that the dealers still have to get out and sell faceto-face. "In January we had a used truck forum with all the used truck specialists and distributor principals," he reports. "All the principals came, which meant that they were taking it seriously. We first proposed the idea of a central retail auction at Milton Keynes but they declined. So we then came up with a series of local used Drive and Buy roadshows."
All the vehicles will be priced. The majority will be prepared under the approved used truck scheme, and vehicles will be available to test drive, complete with loaded trailers. France people will bean hand to sort out deals.
Visitors will also be able to enter a raffle; the prize, inevitably will be a used Scania which will be displayed on the company's stand at the NEC CV Show.
So after roadshows, "Snips" and offbeat ads, what more can Scania do to sell its used vehicles? "We'll think of something else," says Andrew. "The main thing is to keep our name in front of anyone who's thinking of buying a used truck."