The travelling man
Page 14
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
From Derbyshire to the Norfolk Broads, CM catches up with the itinerant Imperial Commercials regional director Steve Affleck By Steve Banner
STEVE AFFLECK must like travelling. As regional director for dealer group Imperial Commercials, he is responsible for the company's MAN and Hino site at Derby as well as its Norwich depot — some distance from one another — not to mention its Peterborough branch.
Norwich and Peterborough represent MAN and Hino as well as Isuzu Trucks. MAN dealers solely provide service and parts support for the marque — sales are handled directly by the manufacturer — and Imperial's MAN aftersales activities at the three sites are forging ahead. "Two years ago we appointed an aftersales manager, Paul Jarvis, and he's
transformed things," says Aftleck. Last year Peterborough won a much-coveted award from MAN for its performance.
Some of Imperial's aftermarket success is generated by an increase in the number of MANs in its territories, says Affieck, and some by spin-off work from its authorised testing facilities.
"We've got them in Peterborough and Derby, and we're opening one in Norwich in January," he reports. Increasingly wary Affleck believes Imperial is getting the better of the parts factors. "I think that operators are becoming increasingly wary of saving, say, £2 to £3 on an oil filter from an independent supplier in case it ends up
causing them a problem now that trucks are more complex technically," he says.
He is also responsible for a small workshop in Spalding set up a year ago, mainly to provide service and parts support for Fowler Welch.
"MAN put 56 trucks into the company last year and is delivering a further 128 this year, so improving the level of back-up available was important," he says.
"As well as handling Fowler Welch's trucks, the site is looking after other MAN operators in Lincolnshire that might otherwise be obliged to take their trucks to Peterborough."
"We do OK with Isuzu, but I know we could do better," he says.
How about Hino? Hit hard by the near-complete-collapse of the Irish truck market thanks to the recession, Irelandbased Hino assembler Harris has obtained a derogation that allows it to continue to sell ready-bodied Euro-4 700 Series multiwheelers until 2015, according to Affieck.
"We've had a flurry of enquiries, partly I suspect because most of the other manufacturers have run out of Euro-5 multi-wheelers and operators that don't want to go down the Euro-6 route are looking for an alternative," he says.
"A Euro-5 700 Series won't be available but we understand that a Euro-6 is in the pipeline," he continues.
"We can supply a Euro-5 300 Series 75-tonner and a Euro-6 version is on its way. We believe that a Euro-6 18-tonner is scheduled for introduction too. "So in two years' time, we should have a much fuller line-up: but no tractor units suitable for the UK market." •