GREY INVADERS
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When franchised dealers wake up screaming in the wee small hours, it's usually because they've had a nightmare about Simon Hall. He's truck sales manager at Oxfordshirebased Kel-Berg, the leading grey importer of lorries in Britain—and he reckons he can offer hauliers some remarkable bargains...
rey imports are new vehicles that arrive in Britain through channels other than the appointed distributor. Without the official importer's overheads, and wielding the strength of sterling through a network of Continental contacts, Simon Hall can supply new tractors for up to LI2,000 below UK list price.
Last year he sold 150; mainly Oafs, Scanias and Volvos. "It's not just ownerdrivers who are interested," he says. "We've had one or two big fleet operators visit us to see what we've got to offer."
Kel-Berg isn't the only firm sourcing trucks direct from the Continent. Old-established
Northampton-based international haulier EM Rogers is saving at least IT o,000 a truck by shopping on the other side of the Channel, says managing director John Rogers, and it's bringing in vehicles for other operators too. Rogers began by buying a handful of Volvos but has bought Dafs and Scanias too.
Both Kel-Berg and Rogers stress that because these vehides are sourced from within the EU, they comply with the EU Type Approval regulations and can be legally registered in the UK.
European market
But, Hall warns, it's vital that any truck purchased is built for the European market: "If it's been built for a Third World country, then it may be equipped with a Euro-I engine, and may not have anti-lock brakes." Most of the trucks he and Kel-Berg bring in are left-hookers, which are fine for many cross-border hauliers.
Grey importers concentrate on tractors because they're more readily saleable than rigids, says Hall, and because that's where the pricing advantage is most marked.
They don't offer the extended two to three-year warranties and maintenance packages that UK franchised dealers can include in the deal (although Kel-Berg will happily sell clients an extra-cost warranty) but the
vehicles are protected by the 52month factory warranty and franchised outlets are obliged to honour it.
Servicing your grey import is unlikely to be a problem, says Hall, who points out that there's nothing to stop the operator going to a franchiled dealer and buying a maintenance contract to cover it.
Grey imports can be ordered to exact customers' specification, but Kel-Berg also carries an extensive stock of off-the-shelf tractors, so a buyer can take delivery rapidly if he's not too fussed about wheelbase, fuel tank size, and so on.
"The tractors we stock are usually more highly specified than the ones normally seen in Britain, with lots of extras as standard," says Hall. "The Continental spec is invariably better than UK spec," Rogers agrees: "Air conditioning is often standard, along with spotlights and sun visors."
Hall welcomes part exchanges, especially left-hookers, because they can be sold on the Continent as well as to international operators based in Britain.
Human nature
But while a local dealer is most unlikely to refuse to service a grey import, Leyland Daf's marketing director Tony Pain warns that it won't do much for your relationship with your local dealer. Human nature being what it is, you're unlikely to be given priority over more loyal customers, although you will be attended to.
Nor are grey imports necessarily better specified than lorries obtained through more conventional channels, says Pain. "You won't get a guaranteed residual value either. Buy a Daf 95XF
Super Space Cab tractive unit from one of our dealerships and you'll get cab air-suspension, airconditioning, a hydraulic gearshift, leather seats and a wooden dashboard," he adds. "It also comes complete with a two-year warranty and a repair and maintenance contract which is worth from £4000 to £4.500.
In the UK, whatever truck you buy, you invariably get a night heater," he says. "But if you buy a Spanish specification truck, for instance, then you won't. You may find that the battery is smaller and has a lower amperage than is usually found on British trucks, and that the fuel tank you get is smaller too."
Simon Hall comments that the steer axles of his imports will more than meet UK axle loading requirements, but Pain warns that 6x2s built to Continental requirements could face axle loading problems in Britain. A 6x2 is a much rarer beast on the other side of the Channel than it is over here, he points out: "Midlifts are almost unknown."
Because grey imports have not been sold by the official distributor, Pain points out that the factory won't have their ownership details, so the operator may not receive notice of any recalls.
He reckons only a handful of Dafs are coming in as grey imports, and this view is shared by Ray Nessbert, chairman of the Leyland Daf dealer council and managing director of Cardiff Truck Centre.
Anton Pluim, secretary of the Netherlands Truck Dealers Association, reports that his members are not seeing a major influx of orders from UK hauliers.
So far, at least, the trailer industry hasn't been affected by grey imports, says Richard Blurton, marketing manager at Don-Bur: "There have been people who have mentioned going to European trailer makers and buying direct, but the worry is that the manufacturer concerned may not be able to provide proper aftersales back-up in Britain."
All grey importers are affected by currency fluctuations, but official distributors do their best to insulate their customers from dramatic price swings, says Pain: "If we sell you a truck in 2000, the price you pay will bear some relation to the price you paid this year—it won't suddenly jump."
Hall says: "When sterling declines our margins get tighter, and if it becomes really weak we buy in Britain and sell in Europe. Either way, Kel-Berg is here to stay. We're not a flash in the pan."
• by Steve Banner