Seeing double at Seddon
Page 20
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Nothing calms nervous truck buyers more than money being spent on their favourite manufacturer. Investment equals survival, and for operators that means not having to worry about whether the truck they've bought this year will have any backup next year...
by Brian Weatherley • Seddon Atkinson's recent announcement of a "multi-million-pound strategy" has clearly helped reassure Big A buyers. They've needed it.
Five years ago the Oldhambased truck maker's long-term prospects weren't helped by reported comments from Iveco bigwig Giancarlo Boschetti that in a few years it would stop building "standard" trucks.
It took Seddon and its dealers many months to put out the firestorm of rumour that followed, and by then the damage had been done. Perhaps what Boschetti had in mind was that Seddon's product range would remain distinguishable from that of its parent, rather than being limited to "special" vehicles. Either way his remarks had an unsettling effect that's lingered on.
Fortunately Seddon's latest .£20m investment plans haven't gone unnoticed, as newly appointed general manager, sales & marketing, Les White explains: "I sat down with an operator the other day who runs a few 38-tonners and asked him how were we doing. He echoed what a lot of operators are thinking— 'At least we know you're going to be around'. I've had that from a couple of major fleets too, The investment has triggered that."
Far from being totally dependent on municipal vehicles or other "specials" for its livelihood, 600/0 of SA's sales are to general haulage customers. So what is Iveco's strategy for Seddon Atkinson? White prefers to turn the question round. "What's Seddon Atkinson's strategy for Iveco! Iveco has owned us for some five years now and I guess at first we were a surprise to them. They said to put together a strategy for Seddon Atkinson with Iveco. That's been to retain our inde
pendence under Iveco with the Big A, which has a well-respected history. We've got flexibility; they haven't. We've got a niche building role that they can't fulfil. We basically hand-build a truck so the ability to build something different is easier for us than Iveco or Scania."
That bespoke-build capability will bear more fruit next year when Seddon unveils two niche products for mainstream European commercial markets, badged as Ivecos.
But what of Seddon's home market? When the company outlined its investment programme in September it declared it would "see Seddon Atkinson registrations in the UK double by the year 2000". Considering its position right now that's quite a boast (see panel, right).
Tractor programme
So who does White expect to win business from? "Everybody. We've just launched a tractor programme where we're weak in that market. We build a light, competitively-priced tractor and we're starting to get into rental fleets.
"Traditionally we've made fairly bespoke vehicles to order," he adds. "Things have moved on since then. We're creating a small stock bank based on what dealers and operators want, not what we've made. Before we were more engineer ing led we'll now make what the market wants."
Building the right product is one thing; winning the business is another. Earlier this year Oldham faced criticism for being inflexible over pricing (CM 27June-3 July).
White admits: "There can be a conflict between marketprice support—I don't believe that throwing money at trucks is the right way to sell them. Some of those 'competitive' prices will come back to bite operators and manufacturers" he insists.
Seddon is about to launch its own facto ry-backed finance package for operators that will include R&M contracts and guaranteed buybacks: something the dealers haven't had so far. It will be branded as a Seddon Atkinson product. The dealer network will also be reviewed.
"It has its strengths and weaknesses," says White. "You'll see some changes in the New Year. Nothing's cast in stone—we've told them that. However, the dealer body has been as loyal as anyone could have been and the news of the investment has given them that much more confidence."
One of the most recent rumours concerning Seddon is that parent company Iveco was planning to shift production of the Cargo from the Iveco Ford plant at Langley to Oldham. White is unconvinced: "It sounds nice," he says, "but it's not in our strategy and we've not suggested it." Seddon also remains independent from Iveco Ford: "We report direct to Special Vehicles in Turin," insists White.
Watershed
Next year will be a watershed for Seddon. If its investment strategy is right it could finally break out of the pigeonhole other manufacturers, and operators, have undoubtedly been quick to place it in. But White acknowledges the scale of the task ahead: "We have to add value to the product either on the line or by strengthening the dealer network. But we're as good as the majority of the competition now, albeit on a smaller scale."
Seddon Atkinson-the task ahead
• In 1995 SA registered L059 trucks in the UK (2.0°/, of the total truck and artic sector) but less than 9.5% of all Iveco Group sales in this country were Seddon Atkinsons.
• In 1996 SA expects to register "about the same" with the Oldham plant currently running at an annual capacity of L500-2,000 trucks on a single shift. However, according to White it can easily switch to a double shift to deliver the proposed increase lithe company's registrations by the year 2000.