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Taking control
Page 70
Page 71
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MAN/ERF is getting to grips with its used truck arm — and up to 90%
of returning F2000s are destined for export. Emma Penny reports.
Deating with buy-backs has been a long learning process for truck manufacturers, but one which they are finally getting to grips with. In MAN's case that meant setting up MAN Diesel to deal exclusively with used vehicles.
The business, launched at last year's CV Show, now includes 40 UK dealers. Half are owned by MAN; the rest are independents. Michael Leming, head of MAN Diesel, says:"All manufacturers have been offering buy-backs for so long that we're only reaping now what we've sown in the past. We believe we dealt with it well last year... we're learning to control it."
Leeming believes used truck sales have left the "cottage industry" image behind to become a major sector in their own right: "We looked at what we did, tightened up on procedures and have really tried to put in a good structure.Now salesmen are focusing on selling to customers rather than traders — if we sell to traders it's because we know they are going to move the vehicle out of the country" Last year MAN Diesel sold 3,125 used vehicles. compared with the 2,200 the firm sold in 2002.This year's target is 3,500 sales—up 11.6% on last year's levels —so Leeming will really have a market to get his teeth into.
"We've grown the dealer retail side of things, as well as exports," he explains."We want 75% of sales to go through our dealer sites and the remainder to be export and trade sales,with the emphasis on exports."
MAN and ERF trucks are sent to the used network on a 90-day sale-or-return basis, meaning unsold trucks don't hang about in yards for too long, However, Leeming says the deals on offer to customers will be better than ever this year. Increased professionalism has brought with it options including servicing and operational leases.
The latest product, which Leming is planning to launch this spring, is an R&M deal, particularly aimed at operators buying usedTGAs:"We're likely to offer a three-year-old tractor on a twoyear R&M lease, or a two-yearold unit on a three-year R&M option."
As an example (and he stresses that full details have yet to be finalised) Leeming says an operator taking any threeyear-old TGA tractor on a twoyear R&M deal would be paying £231 a week:"We're looking to move to dealing with used trucks this way.The CAN-bus of the TGA is integral to its operation, and customers like the comfort zone of R&M leases when they go into them." •