Iveco boss reveals 2015 approaches for growth 14 January 2015

Iveco is fitter, leaner and stronger than ever – and has world class product and services throughout the heavy and light truck and van industry – but will be focusing on improving its retail presence around the UK and Ireland, starting this year.

So said Bob Lowden, newly appointed managing director of Iveco UK, yesterday (13 January 2014) at the firm's 29th annual 'State of the Nation' conference for UK transport press – making the point that the brand now has the backing of British headquartered CNH Industrial, with global revenues of eur 25 billion

Formerly head of Iveco's operations in South Africa, Lowden said: " "My experience gives me an in-depth appreciation of the pressures that road transport operators work under every day. I understand the character and the demands of the local markets in the UK and Ireland [and] everything we do as a business moving forward will be about building relationships and delivering for operators where they are."

Commenting on Iveco's light commercial vehicles, he insisted that New Daily (which won International Van of the Year 2015) offers "a very bright future" for the firm and for customers, despite tough competition.

However, he indicated that while Iveco's commercial and fleet business is going from strength to strength – particularly with dotcom delivery firms – that needs to be matched by growth in retail – the target market for which New Daily was designed.

"Our strategy for 2015 is to focus on growing our visibility, widening our retail dealer and service footprint, concentrating our dealer sales teams accordingly – and making New Daily a 'van of choice' for the huge variety of retail customers nationwide."

Moving on to medium weight trucks, Lowden drew attention to Iveco's SCR (selective catalytic reduction) only approach to Euro 6 – claiming that this is proving a winner, particularly as vehicles using a combination with EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) in this sector "often struggle to reach and maintain the heat needed to minimise regeneration".

Said Lowden: "When you've got a vehicle using EGR as well as SCR, that – as a number of operators have already told us – is proving to be an operational Euro 6 headache. We're not using EGR. So regeneration is not a problem with Eurocargo."

However, he conceded that the challenge for Eurocargo is to maintain its strong market position in the face of the lighter gvw competitor vehicles from Japanese manufacturers.

His answer: "We have a new generation Eurocargo to come later this year that will take us a further stride ahead."

As for heavy trucks, Lowden sees Iveco's progress here as stellar, driven by the dealer network's success in heavy truck retail sales.

That said, he accepts that Iveco carries legacy baggage in this sector and agrees that its now world class credentials need boosting. The solution: "An aggressive conquest plan for 2015 and beyond to do more business with medium and large fleets," he said.

"Our number one goal is to get more drivers, fleet engineers and company bosses behind the wheel of a demonstrator," he insisted.

"We know for a fact that today's Stralis and Trakker vehicles are every bit as competitive as every other manufacturer on the market," he continued.

"Both products stand out for their driveability, cab comfort, economy and reliability. That's confirmed by the feedback we get universally from demonstrations."

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Iveco

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