Laurie Dealer: when the rumour mill works overtime
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"Half the lies they tell about me aren't true"
When it comes to idle chatter, used truck dealers can knock Twitter trolls and TalkSport DJs into a cocked hat. One story doing the rounds at the moment is the future of a network of franchised dealerships: it comes on the back of arguably the biggest story over the summer, which was the administration and subsequent rescue of Iveco dealer Grays Truck & Van. Word around the camp fire was that the dealer group was struggling with cashf low before being rescued by Iveco Retail, a
newly formed subsidiary of Iveco Holdings (CM 26 September); a move that saved 120 jobs. And as Grays starts its journey towards new private ownership, other names said to
be facing economic woe, or the subject of rumours of divestment, crop up at the scuttlebutt.
Since the start of the recession back in 2008, the landscape of every dealer network has changed, with some dealers getting out while others have seen their business model flounder under duress.
With Euro-6 about to become reality, dealers will be ever more reliant on the workshop and parts to remain strong and no doubt more rumours will begin the rounds. But as baseball legend Yogi Berra said: "Half the lies they tell about me aren't true."