New Zealand has made major strides in the heavy commercial vehicle sector with most of the major players in the truck, bus and coach industry setting up deep roots in the region. The country is famous for its vast open landscapes and endless undulating hills which are beautiful to look at but really difficult to navigate. Due to its topography, New Zealand has always needed unique trucking solutions to suit the country’s terrain and long-distance drives between cities. New Zealand’s location at the far end of the globe also makes it challenging to deliver truck spares on demand; this has led to the establishment of world class customer service and technical support teams well equipped to serve the customers in that region.
MAN is one of the oldest Bus and Truck production companies and has had a long successful history in New Zealand. The company has been serving New Zealanders with trucking solutions for about 40 years and has a high customer satisfaction rating in the entire Asia-Pacific region. The German trucking company’s secret has been to build and empower a strong local support team well oriented with the entire MAN fleet of vehicles. The team is well-trained in customer care, technical skills and proficiency with sales such that the truck sales and maintenance operations can be run autonomously to the main offices in Germany. In order to achieve this level of excellence, MAN got into a collaborative agreement with Penske Commercial Vehicles New Zealand, who would be MAN’s exclusive dealer in trucks and buses in the region.
Penske Commercial Vehicles (PCV) New Zealand set up a world-class team of technicians, sales staff and other personnel that has cemented MAN’s position as an unshakeable leader in the Asia-Pacific market. PCV is a subsidiary of the Penske Automotive Group based in the USA and is responsible for sales of new and used trucks and buses, maintenance and customer service as well as technical support for MAN trucks and Buses.
The Penske Commercial Vehicles dealers’ dedication to customer satisfaction is finally getting global recognition three of its branches securing spots in the top five best MAN workshops in the Asia-Pacific region in 2017.
MAN Germany came up with a contest to rate all the workshops in the world officially working with MAN trucks and buses by having them compete against each other on the same playing field. This award was designed as a method to recognize team efforts and identify the best workshops in the entire MAN service network.
Each participating workshop is required to select a team of four representatives who will be assessed on a wide range of workplace skills including customer service and technical know-how. The MAN workshops are made up of a myriad of departments such as the warehouse, reception, invoicing, aftersales
Three out of the top five best MAN workshops in the Asia-Pacific region in 2017 were Penske Commercial Vehicle dealers based in New Zealand. The first, third and fifth positions were secured by Heavy Trucks Christchurch, Penske Commercial Vehicles Auckland and Penske Commercial Vehicles Mount Maunganui respectively. The Heavy Trucks Christchurch was actually being awarded the top position for the third year running.
Penske New Zealand’s commitment to customer satisfaction is clearly reflected in the company’s record sales in the region. in 2016, Penske wasIn the 2016/17 financial year, PCV sold 105 MAN registered chassis, 10 MAN powered Designline registered chassis and 137 MAN trucks in the 10,000 kg plus truck market. All in all, Penske sold 252 MAN chassis in 2016.
Conclusion
Despite being a small company, Penske Commercial Vehicles New Zealand has proven to be a giant in the customer service industry and could have a lot to teach truck and bus dealers in other parts of the world. The company’s success on limited resources and options is admirable. One can only imagine what the team could achieve if it had access to the resources and facilities available to European and North American customer support teams.
Read Also:
Tips for buying American spare parts for your truck
