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Upon arrival the show immediately felt different to previous years - the only outside exhibit was a lonely Movano and the entry foyer was light on people queuing to get into the hall.
The show was different - but not necessarily worse. There was only one hall in play instead of the usual three or four, but this meant that it was easy to cover the show in a day, as the task ahead seemed less daunting.
Philip Heine of T-Cards Direct told us, "This is a totally different type of show - there are certainly less people, but the people we have spoken to are more serious buyers."
For the small exhibitor this is good news, as the visitors had more time to stop and discuss business with exhibitors that they would usually have to pass by. For the visitor this was also good news as they had the chance to delve into the interesting small stands for useful aftermarket add-ons. Where are the Trucks?
Hartshorne Group wisely had a truck on show Despite the publicity in advance of the show informing visitors that there would be no trucks and the focus is on the 'operational' side of the business our (admittedly unscientific) straw poll of visitors tells us that nearly half of the people we talked to believed there would be some trucks on show. Dealers on Show There were just two local dealers taking advantage of the show - Hartshornes and Guests. Hartshornes really pushed the boat out with an impressive stand right at the entrance to the show, next door to the new Movano. This may be clever thinking on the part of the organisers, as the stand contained an FL Chassis cab - one of the few trucks at the show and the first vehicle seen by everyone coming through the entrance.
Either way, it was a coup for Hartshorne's group marketing manager, Alan Southall. He tells us "We have had a lot of interest in the stand today and all the staff have been rushed off their feet." The company is promoting all areas of their business, from new Volvo sales to their Hy-Parts hydraulics operation under their 'Total Transport Solutions' banner.
The other dealer on show was Guests - with an Eco Daily CNG van on their stand. Again the focus was on the additional aftermarket services that Guests can provide - including their Speedliner lining application service. What about the Vans? Vauxhall It was Vauxhall that stole the show with their 'reveal' of the New Movano, (which everyone has already seen plenty of photos of). Vauxhall Chairman and commercial vehicle lover, Bill Parfait told journalists that the company has a goal to be the number one in van sales, since they are already number one in van manufacture in the UK with 600,000 Vivaros made in Luton since 2002.
He feels that the new Movano will help to get Vauxhall above Ford in the UK's top sales spot as the outgoing model performed particularly poorly last year with sales of just 2,000 units. Steve Bryant, Commercial Vehicle Brand Manager at Vauxhall said that Vauxhall would want to double that next year. He believes that pushing the Movano up the weight range and adding rear wheel drive capability will give the vehicle more 'heritage'.
The target for this year is to move 30,000 vans - against the backdrop of 25,000 last year - although the targets will need to go up in subsequent years to get to their target of a number one spot.
To help Vauxhall in achieving their lofty goals, they are set to improve the heavy van network. Under the banner of 'Premier Service Network' the existing 35 'Premier' dealer points will be expanded to 98. Chairman, Parfait explained, "we have received more applications from dealers wishing to cover heavy vans than the business model can support. Renault Renault used the show as a launch pad for their new UK ad strap line, 'Trust Europe's No.1 Van Manufacturer'.
Renault's impressive stand held no fewer than nine models - including the phase III Trafic resplendent in the AA livery.
There were plenty of Kangoos on show, including the new long wheelbase version, the Kangoo Van Maxi, one of which was shown as a five-seat crew van. The all-new versions of the French brand's new challenger in the large van sector are expected to be the star attractions, included the twin rear wheel rear-wheel drive version.
Twin Rear Wheel Drive ad 15m3 for Master Peugeot In their 200th year, Peugeot used the show to great effect to demonstrate their new logo and their sales performance in the first quarter of 2010. Taking pride of place alongside the innovative U-Tail demount concept was the diminutive Bipper in full royal Mail livery. The 2,000-vehicle Royal Mail deal goes some way to explaining Peugeot's sterling performance in the new vehicle registrations league for the first quarter of this year with the Bipper accounting for nearly half of Peugeot's registrations with 2,334 units of Peugeots total of 4,885.
A Peugeot spokesperson informed us that the business is not simply being bought by offering cheap deals or easy finance - "the business is all merit business, not bought business".
A stunning display of Peugeot's quirky do-it-all Roadload U-tail Boxer van concept was impressive. Based on the Boxer chassis, the U-shaped chassis gives the vehicle the ability to lower the load bed to the floor. The converters, Roadload, have designed a series of demountable bodies to fit the chassis to turn it into a dropside, caged tipper or box van - giving flexibility to operators such as local authorities.
It is likely that only local authorities could justify the ?32,000 upwards price tag, mainly for the benefit of a ground load height.
Using the impact of the U-Tail, Peugeot launched their conversion programme for the Boxer Van at the show. Although limited when compared to Citroen's offerings, Peugeot's new conversion programme will offer a single point of contact from the point of order to customer delivery. There will be a range of popular accessories including mesh cages, tail lifts, towing hitches and warning beacons to the two standard conversions, the Boxer 335 L2 120 Tipper and the Boxer 335 L3 120 Dropside. Nissan Nissan's display focused around their new baby, the NV200 - on show in van and combi variants. With a retail price from ?12,205 and CO2 emissions of only 137g/km, Nissan's new van could prove a success. Nissan's LCV sales and marketing director, Francis Bleasdale comments that the dealer network now have sufficient stock to sell with a 4-6 week lead time to get the vans in from the Barcelona factory. "We are 35% ahead of our business plan for the NV200 with 250 NV200 registered in March alone".
Bleasdale attributes the success to the broad appeal of the vehicle to small local businesses. Many companies have used recession time to evaluate the optimum sized vehicle for their business, rather than opting for the biggest available just in case.
The show was a good chance to se the Pathfinder Van launched last year alongside the revised Navara. The Pathfinder Van comes with either obscured glass or a full panelled body and is available from ?21,682.
Perhaps more telling was the vans that were not on show. Although "The Interstar continues", according to Bleasdale it was not on show and does not take the updated form of the Movano and Master.
Commenting on the growth of Nissan's dealer network, Bleasdale tells us, "With a growing product line-up of class leading Commercial Vehicles, we need the widest possible dealer network to offer the complete package to our customers across Britain. We're delighted to introduce our four new centres to the fold, and especially proud of the Chatfields Birmingham site which offers the first dedicated Nissan CV centre in the UK." Fiat Fiat's display focused heavily on their sitcom fleet management firm introduced in Fiat Professional's TV advertising campaign "The Fleet" and Lightfoot logistics. All six vans on the stand were finished in white and feature the blue Lightfoot Logistics logo. The centrepiece vehicles were two new Doblo Cargos, which were launched in the UK last month.
More than Just Vans.... The whole show was totally focused on the add-ons to commercial vehicles that make them more efficient, safer, prettier, cleaner etc. etc. So what is of interest to the CV Dealer? Back to Basics Phil Heine of T-Cards Direct tell us that 2009 was the best year they have had selling their workshop management system. He accredits this to the fact that many workshop owners are cutting out unnecessary costs, such as software and the associated support costs and switching back to the manual T-cards system. Since his typical customer are commercial workshops with between three and fifteen technicians, this news should be right up the street of the average commercial vehicle dealer.
Handistep have taken their passion for health and safety to the next level with their new product, launched at the show - a yellow version of their successful Handistep. All Handistep products feature reflective tape as standard, but the new yellow step gives increased visibility for safe loading and unloading - plus whilst the vehicle is on the move. Fire!
Strong Plastics, the company behind many of the fire engine bodies in the UK was showing off its skills in specialist bodybuilding. Their unique products are all fabricated from engineering grade polypropylene plastic, which makes them last a long time and render them 100% recyclable. Perfect for local authority use. They were showing off their pod for a Ranger pickup - the Hilux version is on the way. A pickup canopy is cheaper, but the strength of the self-contained unit could make the ideal solution for an authority or utility client. Plenty up top
Rhino's new Ladder Clamp Top roofrack manufacturer Rhino had an impressive showing - interest was centred around their new lockable ladder clamp system which, as was demonstrated hundreds of times a day, is much faster to use than a traditional ladder clamp, plus it has been crash tested at Millbrook. More expensive that the ?25 clamp it replaces, retailing at ?38.50+VAT, Rhino claim that the added expense is worthwhile.
Primedesign's side loading ladder system Primedesign, a Belgium operation was showing a US-designed side-mounted ladder loading/unloading system. Called the Ergorack, the makers claim that it is easier to use than traditional rear-loading systems as you can park in a tight spot and still unload. Primedesign also demonstrated their Alurack - a lightweight roofrack suitable for all vans that, the makers claim, is priced extremely competitively. The Show is the Belgian firm's first foray into the UK market. "We've had some very good leads and this is a very encouraging start," said Koen Bessmans, managing director. "Some of the sales leads involve firms with large fleets and we've had strong interest from several potential business partners." Proppa People
Sensible loading height - ?895+VAT +del Trade price A smart trio of pickups graced the Proppa.com stand demonstrating some of the range of van accessories available from the proppa.com website. New for the show is the high roof, side opening canopy for the Ranger, Hi-lux, long bed L200 and the Rodeo. With the extra height it makes the load bed of these pickups almost useable - demonstrated by transporting one of Proppa's other products a smart-looking quadbike. Also on show on the Proppa stand was the SMM hardtop, the only pickup canopy made from steel instead of the usual fibreglass. Boss, Adam Weaver told us that despite the weight penalty there were advantages in terms of the quality of construction and the fit onto the vehicle. The SMM retails at ?1259 including VAT & delivery.
Bright working conditions Bright Lights Labcraft's lighting display showed what can be done to improve working conditions in the average panel van. Too many conversions give little thought to the lighting in the rear, but it really can help the operator when working. From a maintenance point of view, their LED lighting range can run for over 60,000 hours (or nearly seven years non-stop) - this makes them a fit and forget solution to seeing what you are doing in the back of a van! Speed Merchants On the Speedliner stand, the company has broadened their targeting away from simply pick up load beds to more specialist applications - in particular the food industry with their Speedliner HC active anti bacterial product. This widened appeal could make it worthwhile taking on a Speedliner dealer/application centre. One to Watch... Peter Dallas of Dal-Tec has got his sights firmly set on the commercial vehicle sector. The company specialises in aftermarket electronics - reversing aids, handsfree kits etc. but has seen the opportunity for a focused approach to sales in the truck and van industry. Increasing their product portfolio in this area, the company now offers rear safety steps and towbars. The Bury Handsfree kit was impressive - you can Bluetooth connect two phones at the same time - great news if you have a work and a personal mobile. It can even play your iPod/iPhone - all controlled by your voice. I'm buying one. Verdict Although the show was definitely smaller, there were definitely fewer people we believe it was worthwhile for serious visitors and exhibitors alike.
Freelance writer for Commercial Vehicle Dealer Magazine http://www.cvdealer.co.uk and online commercial vehicle site http://www.vanlocator.co.uk.