Mercedes Prepare the Ground T HE one factor which can do
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more than any other to influence the sales of any manufacturer's vehicles in a foreign country is after-sales service. This, of course, applies as much to British companies exporting vehicles as it does to concerns whose vehicles are imported into Great Britain, and unless a manufacturer can establish fast and efficient service facilities throughout the territory in which be hopes to sell his vehicles, the sales battle quickly turns into a rout.
Fully aware of this problem, Mercedes-Benz (Great Britain), Ltd., Brentford, Middlesex, recently arranged for sales and service personnel from 10 of their British commercial-vehicle distributors to attend a 10-day course in Germany, during which they visited the main Daimler-Benz factories and received special instructions as to the most efficient way of servicing Mercedes-Benz vehicles.
Discussion with two members of this party and Mr. Frank Tinsdale, the commercial vehicle sales manager of Mercedes-Benz (Great Britain), Ltd., revealed that although basic German servicing procedures differ little from those accepted in Britain, the little servicing tips which can save so much time and money and which were picked up in the space of a few days would have taken up to 18 months to learn in terms of general experience. Much was learnt which the admittedly comprehensive Mercedes-Benz instruction manuals nevertheless fail to indicate.
In particular, the British service fitters and engineers were able to pick up the short-cut methods of diagnosing and correcting faults peculiar to Mercedes-Benz vehicles—any make of vehicle has its idiosyncrasies.
Personnel on the course were able to see all the major components stripped down and were given instruction on the servicing and adjustment of such parts. The use of special tools was emphasized also, and although it is not expected that each distributor should carry a full set of such tools, a set is held at Brentford so that items may be lent out to distributors as and when required.
In addition to rectification of operational troubles, tips were given as to how preventive maintenance could be applied, an example being the desirability of changing the pre-combustion-chamber inserts at regular mileages to maintain engine efficiency and forestall the possibility of more serious and expensive combustion faults taking place.
The British visitors to the Daimler-Benz Gaggenau, Mannheim and Stuttgart plants reported that they were particularly impressed by the quality and thoroughness of c32
Fully trained service personnel are of little use without comprehensive spares holdings, and so far there are some £32,000 worth of Mercedes-Benz spares in Great Britain, of which £12,000 worth is held at Brentford, the remaining items being spread throughout the dealership. In this respect it is fortunate that the three heavy models at present imported—the 322, 327 and 338 types—share many common spares, and it is because of the desirability of reducing spares requirements that the types of vehicle imported are being kept down to these three.
To further guard against emergencies, one or two new vehicles are always held in stock at Brentford, any of which could be cannibalized at a moment's notice, whilst in any case urgent spares will aways be flown in from Germany. In this connection it is of interest to note that any such emergency orders result in an immediate follow-up order for six of the same item.
Use British Supplies Where it will be cheaper to use British supplies, this will be done,, examples being road springs, brake linings and bearings, whilst with regard to fuel-injection and electrical equipment, the British Bosch concern has undertaken to co-operate fully. Hydraulic brake spares will be supplied from Germany because of the absence of equivalent British components, but air-pressure-equipment spares will most probably be purchased from British manufacturers.
Concerning the future, it is obvious that the complexion of the spares holdings in this country will change gradually 'as service experience makes clear where the greatest demands lie. In any case, 24-hour service is virtually guaranteed irrespective of where a vehicle may be when trouble arises. In time it may be found expedient to set up a training school in Britain—staffed by German factory personnel—to give further instruction to British dealers' and even hauliers' fitters.
It is perhaps sad that one of the comments made as a result of this service course was that some British dealers of one or two British makes of vehicle regretted that the same attention was not always paid to them as has been shown by Daimler-Benz, A.G. As a result of this, some of them feel that they can already offer better servicing facilities for Mercedes-Benz vehicles than they may be able to for competitive British types. Herein lies a warning which the British industry would be well advised not to ignore.
J.F.M.