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NEWS
Dealers have to perform: Penske
"We have got to be sure we have the best dealers, and we can’t wait," says Roger PenskeSpeaking at the launch of the new MAN TGX D38, Chairman of Penske Commercial Vehicles, Roger Penske said that the Dealer network had to step up to the plate and perform or: "We’ll invest ourselves".
"We see the ability to grow over the next 12 to 18 months," Mr Penske said. "And we expect the dealerships to be powerful and grow with us.
"We’re going to ask a lot of our dealers and if they can’t perform, we’ll invest ourselves."
Asked what he meant by investing in the dealerships – whether Penske Commercial Vehicles would invest with the dealers or take back the franchise, Mr Penske said: "What we’re going to do establish a criteria for all of our dealers, and we’re already in discussions, for investment not only in technicians but in facilities. Are they open seven days a week? Open 24 hours a day? What’s going to be the offering to the marketplace?
"And in cases where we don’t get that commitment, we’ll move into those markets. We’ll move in ourselves. We’re prepared to invest. I think you see some of our competitors have their own facilities, and it’s been quite successful that way.
"We’ve got to be sure we’ve got the best dealers but we can’t wait. We don’t have five years to wait. We’re prepared to invest that capital immediately.
"What we do is ask the dealer if they’re prepared to invest or invest with us, or we’d take them out with some commercial transaction and step into their shoes.
"We have to be a better company here in Australia from a service perspective, and in our service locations. Even though the market is down we need more market share, so we’re continuing to invest.
Mr Penske said that customer expectations in terms of aftersales service have never been higher.
"It’s not just at the day of the sale that we need to be the best, it’s the total cost of the ownership it’s how we perform two years, three years after you’ve owned the vehicle where we have to get a lot better… the training required, the complexity of the vehicles today … we need to be sure we’re capable not just in one location but across the country, so we’re going to ask a lot of our dealers.
"That’s going to make a big difference because we need to have a network around the country where we can be sure that when we make a commitment to a customer we can deliver.
"They [the customers] want to know ‘what’s your service network? What do I do when I’m on the side of the road?’ There are a lot of expectations and we have to be sure that we can meet those with our organisation.
"Have a look in the US, we have 900 service locations across the US. It doesn’t matter where you are in the US, if you have a problem with your truck we can fix it
"I think that MAN has done a great job with this vehicle and we need to demonstrate that we can back that up.
"What I think we need to do as the next step is have more company-owned locations where we have consistency from the standpoint of customer expectations and customer service.
"I don’t want you (the media) to leave here thinking we’re going to take all our dealers out – we have some excellent ones who can probably do a better job than we might do. We’re going to look at the ones that are weaker that don’t have the capital because you’ve got to look at the equipment you have to have these days. If you can afford that equipment then we’ve got an issue, so we’ve gotta look at whether they’re going to commit to the brand."
Strong words indeed, but Roger Penske didn’t build an organisation that employs 50,000 people and one that will sell 430,000 new and used vehicles this year by shying away from his commitment to his customers.
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Written byGeoff Middleton
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