Used trucks and used vans at Mercedes Benz Commercials dealers get a boost from Wentworth Park
Used trucks at Mercedes Benz are getting more focus than ever before which is good news for Adam Slater, General Manager of the Used Truck and Van division of Mercedes Benz.
New trucks appear to be in very short supply in the UK in 2008 and one of the reasons for this might be that vehicle production may have been temporarily diverted to supply the rapid market growth in Russia and the Eastern Block, or it could be that the forecasters just go it wrong.
However, with more customers than vehicles in the marketplace there are consequences that must be considered. Existing Mercedes Benz Truck drivers are keeping their trucks for a longer period of time, which is extending the change cycle and creating a shortage of used Mercedes trucks and vans. As a result of these factors, residual values on used trucks and used vans are very high with increasing book values.
- How will these factors affect the Mercedes Benz dealer network?
- What will happen to residual values on used trucks and used vans when supply is made available once more?
- How will the contract hire prices of Mercedes Benz truck and van be affected by these factors?
One thing is for sure, Mercedes Benz will need to be very astute with used trucks and used vans to bypass any problems and Adam Slater has taken positive action by commissioning Jeff Smith to develop and deliver a sales management strategy for the whole dealer network.
Jeff Smith’s programme has the Sales Managers for a couple of days focusing on making more profit and at the same time delivering higher levels of customer satisfaction. The plans are to follow up with additional days of Best Practice Workshops so that the Mercedes Benz dealers can learn from each others experience with used trucks and used vans.
Adam Slater, (General Manager) and Dale Slee, (Sales Manger) of Mercedes Benz Commercial Vehicles based at Wentworth Park have both attended the training programmes with Jeff Smith, which really demonstrates their commitment to the support of the dealer network.
After the first wave of training had taken place in March 2008, the feedback from the dealer network was excellent. Dale Slee said excitedly,
“10 minutes after the training had ended, I received telephone calls from the delegates driving home in their cars saying that this is the best course they’ve ever been on. That confirmed to me that we’ve got it right.”
Used truck and van sales at Mercedes Benz are on the up with increasing vehicle sales year-on-year and all the staff at head quarters for used trucks and vans at Wentworth Park in Barnsley, are doing all they can to help the dealer network succeed.
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