At the top of the game
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Truck and Bus Wales & West has an impressive MoT firsttime pass rate figure – 93% to be precise. CM went to find out how the dealer has become so successful
Every morning at 9am Billy Nairn and his senior colleagues review their Volvo dealership’s latest first-time MoT pass rate figures. As MD of Truck and Bus Wales & West, Nairn is aware of how important those statistics are: and when a vehicle that has been submitted for test by one of the company’s workshops has failed to pass, he wants to know why.
Not that there are all that many failures. “At present we’re running at around 93%, and that figure rises to 96% or 97% if PRSs [Pass with Rectification at Station] are included,” he says.
With eight locations – including sites at Avonmouth, Swindon, Gloucester, Swansea, Newport, Pontypridd, Eardisley in Herefordshire and Gurney Slade in Somerset – the firm treats satisfying the demands of the aftermarket as a priority.
Earlier this year it put five new Nissan vans on the road – it represents Nissan too – in the livery of Roadcrew, Volvo’s all-makes truck and trailer parts programme, to increase awareness of what it has to offer.
“Although they deliver Volvo parts too, they don’t carry the Volvo logo,” he says. “Stressing the Roadcrew name is prompting customers to ask what it’s about, and that gives us the opportunity to explain how it can benefit them.”
All the assistance possible
The van drivers are the initial contact point and are supported by a team of roving aftermarket sales people. Parts department counter staff can provide assistance too. “So far as price is concerned, we’re not all that far away from what the manufacturers are charging,” says Nairn.
“We carry large stocks and everything we supply is typically supported by at least a 12-month guarantee.
“If you have the Roadcrew item concerned fitted in a dealer workshop, the labour is guaranteed too. We want to encourage customers to let us do the work,” he says.
All depots offer the Roadcrew range and items are delivered in one of the company’s regular parts vans – it runs 14 in total – as well as in those bearing Roadcrew’s livery.
The range is made up primarily of fast-moving parts – brake chambers, brake shoes, etc – and consumables. The renewed emphasis on Roadcrew seems to be working, but it’s early days. “We’re selling more trailer parts than we used to,” says Nairn.
Roadcrew launched its first trailer parts catalogue in August. It covers all major product groups including axles, suspensions, brakes and electrics, which includes a variety of general trailer components.
A brave acquisition
All former Volvo executives, Nairn and the other managers acquired the dealership from the manufacturer more than four years ago. Nairn says: “We’re glad we did what we did and now we’re in control of our own destiny. As we operate the dealership ourselves, we can make decisions quickly.
“We know that customers like to deal with us because they know they are talking to the people who own and manage the business. Our new truck registrations are increasing, and around 30% of them represent conquest sales. We’ve achieved that in part by going out and knocking on more doors. We’re selling 350 to 400 new trucks annually – 80% of them are supplied with a contract maintenance agreement – and I believe there is the potential in our area for us to do more than 500.” Next year should help the company achieve that figure as customers rush to buy Euro-5 trucks before the January 2014 Euro-6 deadline. “I think we’ll see a high intake of orders,” says Nairn.
Demand could fall sharply in 2014 as a consequence, but Nairn does not believe the market will die completely.
The new FH tractor unit should help keep registrations buoyant both next year and the year after, he suggests. “We’ve already shaken hands on a number of deals,” he says.
The latest FH will be available with Euro-5 engines when production starts next spring (CM 6 September), with Euro-6 models scheduled to be on sale in the autumn. However, one Euro-6 engine, the 460hp version of the 12.8-litre D13, is likely to be available during the first half of next year. ■
SECOND-HAND TRUCKS
Nairn and his colleagues aren’t engaged in the sale of second-hand trucks. These are handled directly by Volvo. Volvo has a used operation at the dealership’s Avonmouth depot as well as static displays at Newport and Swindon, along with used sales people who cover Truck and Bus Wales & West’s catchment area.
However, Nairn is open to the possibility of getting involved in that area of activities at some point in the future. Other independent Volvo dealers have enjoyed significant success in the second-hand market.
ATFs
Despite the dealership’s impressive MoT pass rates, workshop labour sales are showing little sign of growth at present. “They’re fairly static,” says Nairn.
The spin-off business that can potentially be generated by an authorised testing facility (ATF) could help, but he has been in no particular rush to set one up. “The return on the substantial investment required is still too low,” he contends.
It might improve if ATFs were allowed to conduct tests outside normal working hours: not a possibility at present given that all testing remains in the hands of Vosa inspectors. Nairn would like to see this changed eventually, with truck testing carried out by authorised technicians in the same way cars and light commercials are tested.
The firm nevertheless hopes to open an ATF at its Swindon site during the first quarter of 2013; the Pontypridd branch is another likely candidate, and an ATF might also be set up at Newport.
The steady closure of Vosa’s own stations means trucks will either have to be sent further afield to be tested or to an ATF run by a business that could also be a competitor: two sound reasons for setting up an ATF yourself.