R Medium-sized indepen dent truck dealers will struggle over the
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next few years, predicts Martin Rhodes, general manager, used operations, at Renault VI. The independents will survive, and can teach the industry a lot, he says, and the one-man-bands will be OK too.
But the operations in the middle which have the overheads, but not the volume, face a fight for survival in an unforgiving market. "There are too many of them, and although there will always be some, there will be fewer," he says.
And Rhodes knows these markets. He's been an independent trader and worked for franchised dealerships. Recently he was group used manager at Mercedes-Benz dealership Northside Truck Centre, and before that was at He is now busy finetuning Renault's Diamond Quality Trucks (DQT) approved used package. "Somebody buying a used truck is entitled to expect just as good a package as somebody buying new," he believes. Vehicles covered are available with an RAC driveline warranty lasting up to 24 months, and he's reviewing the merits of extending it to 36 months.