Dennis is no menace
Page 5
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HESTAIR DENNIS is the only UK manufacturer currently working a five-day week with overtime, according to chairman David Hargreaves, STEVE GRAY reports from Guildford.
Speaking at the launch of the Delta 1600, 16-tonner (see p13), Mr Hargreaves went on to say that its success stemmed from a redefinition of its product strategy after the takeover by Hestair in 1972.
The Delta 1600 had been conceived as long ago as 1975 and was designed to be in production for 20 years.
Mr Hargreaves told CM that the Delta was designed to take a 20 per cent share of the premium 16-ton market, at present dominated by importers.
Direct selling would be the way to market the vehicle, he said, as the company had its eye on building other vehicles.
This presumably refers to sixand eight-wheel rigids, although the success or failure of the Delta would determine when and if this happened.
At the moment, said Mr Hargreaves, service back-up would be handled by Dennis itself through its own depots, apart from one dealer — Londonderry in Yorkshire.
Dennis, he continued, is not setting out to be a volume producer or a specialist builder. Instead it is aiming at limited production runs.