to join Mega?
Page 59
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Independent used truck dealers could be appointed as satellites to lveco Ford Truck's newly launched Mega Dealers. Including well-known names such as Stormont, Grays Trucks, Norfolk Trucks, and North East Truck & Van, the Mega Dealers are operating an approved used vehicles programme under the Iveco Ford Truck 2 banner countrywide. "Each Mega Dealer has a contractual agreement to cover a particular territory," explains an IFT spokesman. "To help him do that he can appoint IFT dealers who don't happen to be Mega Dealers, or small to mediumsized used truck dealers with a good location." Initially each Mega Dealer will be expected to shift 250 vans and trucks annually, but sales are likely to rise in line with the growth in leasing. IFT hopes the new set-up will help it dispose of trucks being returned to it under buy-back agreements in a controlled fashion. Fifty per cent of the new vehicles it sells at present 50% are sold subject to such agreements. "There are already one or two dealers who receive trucks on sale or return from IFT, and free stock is always of interest to some independent dealers," says used truck specialist Robert Reynolds. "But the Mega Dealers will have to be very careful about whom they get involved with." There's always the danger that unscrupulous traders will simply sell the vehicle, pocket the cash, and not pass it on. "There are people who make a living doing this," he believes. The Mega Dealer could then face considerable difficulties recovering his money, and in Reynolds' view legally wouldn't be able to do so simply by repossessing the truck from the haulier who had bought it. "After all, the Mega Dealer would have given the trader permission to sell it, and the haulier would have bought it in good faith," he says. One prominent truck trader argues that IFT 2 and similar schemes from other manufacturers don't address the fundamental problem of too many new trucks being produced and sold at rock-bottom prices, and subject to suicidal buy-back deals. "Manufacturers and their dealers are still setting residuals that are far too high, and they're still going to make losses on disposal," he says.