Volvo aims for bigger maintenance share
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II Volvo aims to step up the efficiency of its UK dealer workshops by as much as 50% to win a much bigger share of the truck and bus service and maintenance business.
Speaking in Coventry last week at the Commercial Motor Workshop conference. Stig Palm, manager of Volvo Truck Corporation's Gothenburgbased workshop consultancy department, said: 'There is enormous potential for improving the efficiency of Volvo Truck dealer workshops in the UK." According to Palm, Volvo Trucks (GB) workshops are not on the whole less efficient than their counterparts in most of mainland Europe, but compared with Scandinavia Britain has a lot to learn.
"The weak areas basically are in administration systems, especially parts management, and more attention to training is required," said Palm, who presented a paper on workshop profitability at the conference with Mike Hitchins, Volvo Trucks (GB)'s workshop operations specialist.
Hitchins forecast that "contract maintenance (by manufac
turers) forecast that "contract maintenance (by manufacturers) will certainly grow massively in the future." Volvo estimates that its own dealer workshops handle only 15 to 20% of all the Volvo CV servicing and maintenance in Britain.
O Volvo Trucks plans to build 600 vehicles at its Scottish Irvine assembly plant this year — up almost 25% on last year's total of 2,096 vehicles.
The Swedish truck and bus builder also aims to deliver 6,200 trucks to its dealers this year, compared with 5,100 in 1986. According to Volvo Trucks (GB) managing director Bernt Brandtzaeg, the Irvine plant will build 2,900 trucks next year.