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MAN close to a van decision
Page 14
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MAN should announce a van manufacturing partner by the end of
this year. Colin Bameft reports.
MAN's long-running quest to add vans to its line-up seems to be reaching a denoument.
Speaking on the eve of a 'future technology' conference in Munich, truck marketing chief Fred van Putten revealed that a decision on a van manufacturer partner is expected by the end of the year, following a feasibility study into the van market which is due to report in four weeks.
He confirmed that the deal would involve vans from 2.O(X)kg GVW upwards; they could be badged MAN or even ERE Van Putten described a move into the van market as a logical extension of MAN's current business, and he pointed out that most of the marque's existing users also run vans, and many would be keen to develop a single-brand policy.
The van operation will operate through the existing dealer network, much of which has been designed with easy physical expansion in mind. In a possible clue to the nature of the partnership, van Putten cited the Cordwallis Heathrow dealership as an example of MAN and Volkswagen van franchises working together.
He added that the group has no intention ofjoining forces with any of its European truck-building rivals, saying that in such mergers, "one plus one rarely makes two".
Instead he sees expansion opportunities in the East, with particular thoughts on India. China, seen by many as the Holy Grail of automotive industry expansion, is largely ruled out by van Putten due to the dubious commercial ethics which MAN has already encountered there with its bus business.
However, chief executive Hakan Samuelsson is reported in Monday's Financial Times as being on the verge of signing truck and engine deals with China. Acknowledging that the existing line-up might be over-specified for eastern markets, van Putten hinted at a simplified range, not ruling out the possibility of running it as a separate brand.
MAN's UK marketing head David Burke says that he is confident that the reasons for MAN-ERF's current lacklustre performance in the UK have been identified and that the lost ground would be recovered by the year end.