A good year
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A versatile market on the South Coast has helped make 2011 a good year for Southamptonbased DAF dealership Adams Morey
Words / Images: Steve Banner New truck sales have gone far better than expected this year at Redbridge, Southampton-based DAF dealership Adams Morey, says MD Mike Fennell.
When it made its predictions for 2011 at the end of 2010 it had expected that, group-wide, it would receive orders for 250 vehicles from leets and 150 from retail buyers – small hauliers, own-account operators and owner-drivers. However, at the time of writing, with the year not yet over, leet customers had ordered 400 and retail clients had ordered 200.
“We’re quite pleased, despite the fact that margins remain tight,” says Fennell.
How come the order book has expanded so much? Primarily because the customers concerned had postponed replacing vehicles during the recession, he says. As a consequence it had reached the stage where their ageing wagons needed changing.
Economic jitters
“It has to be said, though, that while there was a mood of conidence back in January, it has gradually diminished as the year has gone on,” says Fennell. “People have got nervous about the state of the economy again.” Such nervousness could have implications for sales levels in 2012. Fennell believes, however, that if
demand does fall off in the early part of next year it ▲ Mike Fennell: sales will probably pick up again during the second and third have been better than quarters as operators start ordering Euro-5 trucks in expected in 2011
quantity in advance of the advent of Euro-6.
He does not believe that the need for customers who go in and out of London to acquire trucks that at least comply with Euro-4, so far as particulates are concerned, in advance of changes to the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) in January, has had an enormous impact on Adams Morey’s new vehicle registrations. However, it is giving aftersales revenue a bit of a boost.
This is because irms that wish to upgrade the vehicles they have can make use of a ilter installation service set up at the dealership’s Portsmouth branch in conjunction with Dinex, DAF and Paccar Parts. “We expect to it between 40 and 50,” Fennell says.
Portsmouth is the branch most likely to become an authorised testing facility, he says. It has already been approved as Designated Premises.
As well as Southampton and Portsmouth, Adams Morey and its 300 employees operate DAF outlets at Bournemouth, Salisbury and on the Isle of Wight.
“In addition to those sites, we run a workshop at Southampton Airport and have parts partnerships in place with Dorset County Council and the borough of Poole,” Fennell says.
In other words, it runs in-house parts departments for the local authorities concerned. “Our parts purchasing power is greater than theirs,” he observes.
While it might be reasonable to suppose that the presence of the docks at Southampton would result in tractor units used to haul skeletal trailers bearing containers dominating Adams Morey’s sales, this is not the case.
“In fact we sell more two-axle rigids than we do tractors,” he reports. “Tractors come in at number two.” This is because many of the big container hauliers who run out of Southampton also operate out of Felixstowe, and are based closer to the latter than the former. As a consequence, dealers in the east of England tend to be the ones who beneit when orders are placed.
Investing in facilities
Adams Morey is continuing to invest in facilities – “we spent upwards of £500,000 over the last year,” Fennell says – and the investment schedule includes training and the recruitment of service, parts and bodyshop apprentices.
Repair and maintenance contracts account for a high percentage of the workshop hours sold. As well as providing Adams Morey with a dependable revenue stream, they make it easier for customers to predict expenditure.
“People want to know what the whole life costs of their vehicles are going to be and that’s where repair and maintenance contracts can help,” says Fennell.
“What we try to do is offer everything an operator is likely to require.” That includes accident repair and reinishing at Portsmouth and Southampton: the latter has invested in a Blackhawk chassis straightening jig.
The word ‘everything’ embraces vans. Adams Morey represents Fiat in Southampton – it runs a dedicated light commercial centre in a former Peugeot dealership at Millbrook, just down the road from Redbridge – Portsmouth, Bournemouth and the Isle of Wight, and should sell more than 200 of the Italian manufacturer’s light commercials this year, says Fennell. “We’re a Ford parts and service dealer at Millbrook too,” he says.
Market diversity
Never afraid to tackle markets that might be considered a little foreign by traditional truck dealers, the company’s Fiat outlets are selling motorhomes as well as mainstream light commercials.
Motorhome buyers typically enjoy a high disposable income, are not afraid to spend it, and if they are happy with the deal they receive, tend to pass the word around. If they are unhappy, then of course the same thing applies, but Fennell and his team are determined to ensure they remain satisied.
It is all a far cry from the days when the Morey family, which ran a sand and gravel business, acquired the DAF franchise, says Fennell. “That was back in 1973 – the year I joined the company – when there were about 50 DAFs in the entire country.
“I think that makes us the oldest-established DAF dealership in the UK.” ■