IVECO FORD
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Iveco Ford has quietly dropped plans to set up its own used truck centre at Ampthill, Beds. Unhappiness about the location rather than the concept apparently prompted the decision, and it is possible that the firm will set up another site elsewhere next year. Such a move is likely to coincide with redoubled efforts to promote the Iveco Ford 2 approved used trucks scheme. Leading the charge will be former Fraikin senior executive John Pettit, who is now Iveco Ford's director of used trucks.
DIAMOND
The choice of truck is increasingly influenced by the distance to local dealer workshops, says Mike MacDougall, managing director of Leicester-based Renault dealership Diamond Truck & Van. There's little difference in the reliability or fuel economy of rival manufacturers' vehicles these days, he argues, making aftersales back-up the deciding factor. "We've sold 20 trucks in and around Banbury since May, and we wouldn't have sold one if we hadn't had a workshop there," he observes.
Three months ago Diamond opened a site in Coalville, Leics. It also has a depot in Birmingham and is currently looking for somewhere in the Coventry area.
MacDougall adds: "What we'd like to do is get into bed with an operator there, take over his workshops and run them ourselves, and use them to handle third-party work too."
KTS
Hauliers looking to trade in 4x2 tractors may be in for a nasty shock, warns Sandy Young, managing director of Kent-based Renault dealership KTS Trucks, and chairman of the Renault dealer council. They may not get so much for them as they expect "So far as any changes to Vehicle Excise Duty are concerned, it's pretty clear that the 2+3 configuration will be under the cosh," he says. "As a consequence more operators will be looking for 6x2 units, and interest in 4x2 units will decline accordingly."
LCW
Dealers trying to adjust to this new state of affairs will face a further complication, he warns: 1 reckon that we'll see 15,000 trucks coming onto the market next year as a result of buy-back deals. A lot of them will replace new truck sales."
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, LCW has branches in Blackburn and Halifax. It accounts for 13.4% of MAN's UK sales with a group turnover of more than .E20m.