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Yugo attack is no go
Page 14
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• Yugo's long-awaited attack on the light truck market appears to have collapsed before it even got off the ground.
Last year the Reading-based importer unveiled ambitious plans to set up a truck dealer network selling a range of products based on a Yugoslavianbuilt 4.5 tonne chassis cab. But following a series of personnel changes it looks like Yugo will abandon its plans, for the time being, to concentrate on cars.
Yugo has declined to comment, but Allan Bennett, who was brought in from Peugeot Talbot to head the commercial vehicle division, has left the company, and former chief executive Michael Heerey has retired. He is succeeded by Mike Lee, who was a Fiat sales director, The company had particularly high hopes for a single-car transporter derivative, and appointed Leeds-based Motor way Recovery Services as sole agent for the model. It is understood that the future of this venture is also in doubt, with Yugo about to make a final decision.
Yugo's inexperience in the truck market and indifferent quality standards have been blamed for the failure. Doug Maltby from bodybuilder Easylift, built three recovery vehicles on the Yugo chassis, and he was critical of a lack of preparation. "The chassis was brought in prior to their doing their homework," he says, adding that the vehicles suffered from reliability problems.
Maltby believes that Yugo missed its best chance of success by failing to capitalise on the scarcity of the Iveco Ford Turbo Daily for much of last year, as the old model was phased-out.