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• Seasoned campaigner in the driving seat

4th July 1981, Page 23
4th July 1981
Page 23
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Page 23, 4th July 1981 — • Seasoned campaigner in the driving seat
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

UCCESS has to be won and ictory goes to the perceptive d experienced man and if he s the strength of character to ke a calculated risk, he might joy the smiling face of Lady

tiilick into the bargain. We met ch a man recently. e is an Englishman with a sh name who soldiered with lasgow's tough men in the ghland Light Infantry and . ught in the 51st Highland Divi

• iion.

Leslie Jones, now managing Jirector of MAN-VW Truck and Bus Ltd, sticks out an aggressive :Thin and says "There is nothing 'ree in this world. It's all got to ae worked for."

He sets a good example and a 'est pace.

Until January 1 this year MANVW was based at Chiswick in Nest London and at Bradford. It Nas seen as a bold move by -nany when Leslie Jones moved us company into the "sticks" at -Swindon.

"Miles from the back of be/and" was how we heard the rove described. So we asked _eslie Jones, "Why Swindon?"

"Quite simply we were )utgrowing our existing faciliies and Swindon offered us corn for today's requirements )14 more important, for expan;ion. And we're going to ex)and." And out again comes the Jones chin.

Apart from the financial beneits of moving from West Lonion, Swindon sits comfortably on the edge of the M4 with quick access to the M3 and Ml.

London is 54 minutes away — BR permitting — and Heathrow is just around the corner.

It has become fashionable to say that staff considerations are paramount in a move. Leslie Jones makes no such claim, but he points out, with just a touch of pride, that Swindon offers everything that staff require for work, leisure and family life.

A young ex-"Kings Roeder" told us she was distressed at the thought of moving away from the glitter of the London scene. While she does not agree that Swindon has everything, she's happy that London is as near or as far off as it is.

The MAN-VW staff has taken a very short time to settle in and the move was made without a ripple on the business surface. But at a price.

"To make sure we maintained our service operating at peak efficiency, we kept the parts department fully stocked at Bradford while we built up the Swindon stock," says Leslie Jones.

'That meant we carried double stock for three months to be sure our dealers' demands were met — a belt and braces exercise, but worth it."

When Swindon settled in, the balance of the Bradford stock was moved overnight to the new location. The stock holding is worth £1.5m.

Dealer and, consequently, customer support, figures significantly in the MAN-VW philosophy. "Ten per cent of all manufacturers' dealers have gone to the wall during the recession — we have lost one," says Leslie Jones.

It has been MAN policy above all else to nurse its dealers throughout the period of economic illness.

Leslie Jones refers to recession in the past tense because he believes there are signs that things are gradually improving. The end of the year is his estimate of when the new era will dawn. "It won't be a tropical daybreak but a quiet move from gloom to daylight."

MAN-VW's dealers are, in his view, in as good a position as his continued overleaf major competitors. "We can now supply a vehicle from any sector of the commercial vehicle range. If we and VW had gone it alone, we would have been crucified. We had to offer as wide a range as Leyland, Ford, Mercedes and IVECO."

What of the competition? "We need a strong Leyland in the UK," he said, "but as I see it there won't be more than six or seven companies in Britain by 1990."

He believes they will include Leyland, Mercedes, IVECO, Renault, Ford, a Scandinavian company and MAN-VW. He supports his arguments with hard facts from Europe.

"Look at the other countries: Spain has two, France one, Holland one, Germany two, Sweden two. How can Britain support 14 or 15?"

There seemed to be no answer to that.

He sees rationalisation in franchising as a way of expanding his and other manufacturers' businesses.

"For example, there is no reason why an ERF dealer can't also sell VWs, indeed we already have one doing it. We also believe our van range can complement a car dealer's range."

It is Leslie Jones' view that dealers must be given as wide a scope for expansion as sensible trading permits. The spares organisation at Swindon is impressive. Like most, it is computerised control and like most manufacturers Leslie Jones claims it to be almost perfect.

There are five order points in the purchase department, each with a VDU and each covering 20-plus dealers in specific areas of the country. An order passed to the VDU operator comes up on his screen, he checks the stock, confirms availability and passes the order by keyboard to the spares warehouse.

The documentation is passed on instantaneously, and the order is ready for despatch within 15 minutes of receipt.

That gets rid of the paperwork, but so often that is where the gremlins get into the system. At MAN-VW they have a distribution system which again appears to work.

Orders received on a VOR (vehicle of the road) before 4pm are despatched by Securicor's overnight service. After 4pm they go by TNT overnight trunkers for next day delivery "except to the more remote parts of Scotland; but there's always airfreight if it is essential."

In addition there is a twice weekly "milk round" delivery to all dealers for less-urgent material.

To deal with emergencies outside the scope of the regular system, MAN-VW has a "meet you halfway" service. The dealer and the manufacturer leave at the same time, follow a pre-arranged route and the part is handed over when they meet.

"That's another belt and braces exercise," says Leslie Jones.

The Swindon site covers 16 acres with room for expansion. Already it houses the administration block, vehicle park, stores warehouse, workshop and training area. There seemed little need for more space, but Leslie Jones was thinking ahead.

"We've got to think of next year and the next 20 years as our market increases. The industry is at the bottom now and starting to recover."

In 1979 in the 28-ton plus range, 19,500 units were sold. This year it will have dropped to 12,000, 38 per cent down.

The middle range will drop from 23,327 to 16,000 — down 31 per cent while the light vehicle range, like VW-LT and Sherpa, will fall by 30 per cent from 36,639 to 26,000.

These are approximate figures: "But things are improving and we've got to be ready for expansion."

MAN is a relative newcomer to the British scene. It made its ap pearance in late 1974. It tookbul five years to merge with VW "to complete the range".

The company now has 116 dealer outlets all strategically placed. VW dealers are located in major towns to look after the "High Street" customers who are in the light van market.

The medium-weight MAN dealers are located on the outskirts of towns where haulage contractors have their premises. The heavy haulage vehicle dealers are found close tc motorways and trunk roads, where their customers are operating. It all seems like sour,: planning.

Before visiting Swindon we e• searched the company anc formed the view that it had beer having a thin time of things, with a substantial unsold vehicle park. "Who hasn't?" said an in dig nant Leslie Jones. "Come on I'll show you."

From an office overlooking the vehicle park in full view of the staff and the passing traffic or the M4 you can count 40C vehicles waiting for customers.

"That is one month's stock this year we will put out 5,00C vehicles." An impressive figure delivered with confidence.

Had Leslie Jones been E young Johnny-cum-Lately type we could have doubted his opti mism, questioned his ability anc marvelled at his credulity. He if. not.

He is a hard-headed, well-bat anced, aggressive businessrhar with both feet on the ground.We look forward to see how ihi predictions work out and hiIov■ his company expands.

OW BASED at Swindon, MANW sells products from, in ect, three separate companies MAN, Volkswagen, and MANW. In spite of the fact that some the vehicles come from difrent ends of Germany, the mpany (or companies) stress at all have the same basic ualities of reliability, robustess and overall operating ecoomy.

The Volkswagen LT is unique in its market place as it is the only true forward-control light commercial. It rose rapidly to the number two sales slot in 1979 behind Ford, and since then has alternated with Bedford for this position.

As with most manufacturers in the light end of the market, MAN-VW has found that take up of the diesel option is low — cur rently it is running at 12 per cent.

Marketing director Bill Gilliham accepts that this is a lower figure than most and suggests that the reason is because the LT sales were principally up via the Volkswagen car network in the early stages. Until recently the target purchaser was the onevehicle operator, though the company is now spreading its sights to the fleet user.

The diesel forecast was originally put at 15 per cent and Bill Gilliham is disappointed that this has not been reached. At the moment a Perkins diesel engine is offered but in mid-1982 this will be replaced by Volkswagen's own diesel power unit. The current price penalty for the diesel is around £600 which is on a par with most of the opposition.

The petrol engine is an overhead camshaft design with a capacity of 2 litres (122cuin) which develops 56kW (75bhp) DIN at 2,400rpm, running on two-star fuel. The 4.165 Perkins diesel produces 48kW (65bhp) from 2.7 litres (165cuin).

The LT is also available in chassis cab as well as integral van form with the sales split being approximately 25/75 per cent. This is lower than the trend among other manufacturers, particularly Bedford, and MANVW again cites the car dealer network as the main reason.

In the early days, before the formation of the joint company, the only dealers who sold the LT were the people who sold the air-cooled Transporter.

The percentage split between chassis cab and integral van is gradually moving as more "pure truck" dealers are recruited. According to Bill Gilliham, some dealers are selling 60 per cent chassis cabs within their overall LT sales.

The LT is sold in two wheelbase length — 2.5 and 2.95m (8ft 2in and 9ft 8in) — with the short wheelbase predominating as far as current sales are concerned, though MAN-VW is now seeing a distinct swing towards the longer chassis.

Over 90 per cent of the integral vans are sold in short wheelbase form with the split on chassis cabs being about 50/50.

The integral van is also available in high-roof form which increases the body capacity of the 2.5m wheelbase version from 7.85 to 10.4cum (280 to 370cuft).

As a guide to the payload capability, the LT28 petrol-engined panel van can carry 1,625kg (32cwt) within its gross weight of 13.8 tonnes.

The top of the range LT35 can carry 1,835kg (36cwt) in petrolengined form or 1,695kg (33cwt) if the diesel option is specified.

The MT range breaks new ground for both companies as it fills a gap in their combined ranges. Both manufacturers were looking to extend their respective ranges — MAN down and VW up — hence the co-operative range which covers the six-to-nine-tonne category.

The MT range covers in detail the 6.5 to 9-tonne sector with a wheelbase choice of 3.1 to 4.6m (10ft 2in to 15ft 1in) to suit bodies of 3.65 to 6.1m (12 to 20ft).

Although in theory the total range covers the six to ninetonne category, MAN-VW has in fact found that over 90 per cent of the sales have been for the 71/2-tonne non-hgv vehicle.

In Europe, the combined vehicle networks have had a marketing problem (that is, is it a small MAN or a large VW?). In this country MAN-VW took the middle route . .

Both Volkswagen and MAN dealers were unused to this par

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Organisations: Light Infantry
Locations: London, Bradford

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