Despite a comfortable grip on the title of Australia’s top selling truck in the early 1970s, Mercedes-Benz has gradually slipped down the order to become one of many chasing current title holder Kenworth.
Although acknowledging a return to the halcyon days of the 1970s remains a long way off, senior manager of Mercedes-Benz Truck in Australia, Jo Heinke, says the German manufacturer is determined to recapture some of the glory.
By Gary Worrall | May 15, 2012
Despite a comfortable grip on the title of Australia’s top selling truck in the early 1970s, Mercedes-Benz has gradually slipped down the order to become one of many chasing current title holder Kenworth.
Although acknowledging a return to the halcyon days of the 1970s remains a long way off, senior manager of Mercedes-Benz Truck in Australia, Jo Heinke, says the German manufacturer is determined to recapture some of the glory.
In an exclusive interview with ATN, Heinke says an influx of niche models and an increased focus on customer solutions will help move Mercedes-Benz back up the sales leader board.
With 15 months in the role, Heinke says he has a solid understanding of the Australian market and how to move the brand forward.
Already, he has overseen the development of an ‘owner-driver’ specification of the Actros prime mover, retaining the V6 engine option but adding full leather interior trim, a roof-mounted lighting package and chrome external detailing which is attracting plenty of attention from buyers.
Heinke says this was developed in recognition of the higher comfort levels expected by owner-operators, while still offering traditional Benz attributes of safety and fuel efficiency.
Mercedes-Benz used the 2012 Melbourne Truck Show to highlight new product offerings, with the heavy haul SLT, a 280-tonne monster that is already being tested with operators in Australia, the star of the stand.
Also on display were versions of the low entry Econic, which will be arriving in Australia to take on the Iveco Acco for the lucrative waste removal business, as well as a 4×4 version of the Atego rigid truck and an Actros prime mover designed specifically to work as a milk tanker.
Heinke says engineers from the Wurth factory, which produces all Australian delivered trucks, regularly travel to meet with local engineering and sales staff to ensure fast response to customer requests.
“We can now create body-chassis concepts, we can offer a partnership between the truck and the body builder to speed up the process for operators,” Heinke says.
“we will be able to go to market faster, and with purpose-built bodies.”
Other steps include providing finance packages that can be tailored to include servicing and maintenance costs, which Heinke says is proving very popular in Western Australia, as well as the availability of a full rental option for operators requiring trucks for short terms with minimum lead times.
Although Mercedes-Benz in Europe is already offering a similar service with its CharterWay operation, Heinke says it must have full fleet utilisation to be effective.
Heinke admits one of the biggest challenges for his sales staff is overcoming ‘traditional’ mind sets of second and third generation operators, with overspecifying of new trucks in a bid to increase resale value a particular issue.
While he admits it can make the truck attractive to operators at the end of its first ‘life’, Heinke says it can lead to higher running costs, which is often negates any resale advantage.
“We want to provide the customer with the best truck for their application – we want them to get the best running cost over the whole of the life of the truck,” Heinke says.
Similarly, Heinke says larger fleets are beginning to embrace 6×2 drivelines in single trailer applications, which is ideal for intra-urban operations including container work to and from ports, as well as retail distribution.
“A challenge there is the resale value, however we have found a number of smaller fleets are willing to take trucks at the end of their first life, because they have a known history and low kilometres, and then put them into service as contractors to the original owners.”
The video of Gary Worrall’s interview with Jo Heinke will be posted to www.fullyloaded.com.au Thursday, May 17.
