NEWS
WWW.EXPORTANDFREIGHT.COM
(L-R) John Barr, Isuzu Dealer of ther Year, William Brown, Managing Director Isuzu UK and Peter Eakin, Special Appeciation Award.
(L-R) Robbie Wallace, Regional Manager Isuzu UK, Alastair Kerr and Joel Eakin.
Isuzu Northern Ireland Dealers Dominate Awards Isuzu’s Northern Ireland dealers turned out in force at the company’s annual conference in Newcastle recently - and swept the boards across a wide range of Awards. Isuzu Japan Directors Mr Hosokawa and Mr Inaba joined the event, hosted by UK Managing Director William Brown. Presenting John Barr Cars with the prestigious Dealer of the Year Award for an unprecedented third year in a row, and Eakin Bros with a special recognition Award for 18 years’ service with the brand, William Brown highlighted that Isuzu Northern Ireland lead the way in Europe. “John Barr Cars Antrim and Eakin Bros Maydown are two of the finest Isuzu sites in all of Europe,” said William. “Both businesses relocated their rapidly growing Isuzu pick-up franchises to new larger premises in 2019, investing millions of pounds to give customers prime facilities of the highest order. Customer care is extremely important and Isuzu owners consistently praise the hands-on, friendly, personable service our family run dealers deliver in Northern Ireland. It really does set us apart from the big faceless Groups.” He also highlighted the strong sales performance
of the Isuzu D-Max in the face of very tough market conditions over the last three years. “Our dealers have delivered a resilient performance and maintained market share consistently, while some major manufacturers have dropped back significantly. We’ve seen big hitting competitors like Mercedes and Fiat completely pull out of the market and other Japanese makes fall back significantly. All we build at Isuzu are commercial vehicles, our buyers love their D-Max’s - 2019 was indeed our record year for industry Awards and D-Max swept the boards across the UK.” The importance of individual sales team members is traditionally celebrated at the annual Isuzu Awards, and this year Robbie Wallace of Gormley Motors and Joel Eakin from Eakin Bros were presented with the Isuzu Pick-Up Professional awards, which recognises their achievements at the company’s Training Centre in Solihull. Billy Smyth from Eakin Bros was also recognised with the Salesman Guild Award
for many years top sales performance. “Our dealers and their sales forces are the lifeblood of our business,” said Mr Hosokawa, “and it has been a real honour to attend this evening and meet so many highly trained, committed and motivated Northern Ireland members of the extended Isuzu family. They are clearly listening to our many customers, and we will strive to keep building pick-ups to meet that demand.” “After feedback from the Northern Ireland market we’ve extended our 5 year Roadside Assist and Recovery programme, along with our 5 year/125,000 mile warranty, to cover our pick-ups anywhere across Europe,” added Mr Inaba. “Recent political developments in the UK will not adversely impact NI customers, wherever they travel on the island of Ireland. We believe that delivers value for our customers, everybody wants complete peace of mind when making major investments. Isuzu’s are reliable, and built to work as hard as our many NI owners; it’s a no-nonsense winning formula.”
Green Enthusiasm Needs Government Supports Says Logistics Industry Logistics operators are among the first to identify the benefits of switching to electric vehicles, according to FTA, with nine out of ten operators who are already using EVs planning to expand their fleets within the next three years. However, according to a new report from FTA, further expansion will require the government to urgently address the limitations which prevent wider adoption across the UK’s fleet. Denise Beedell, FTA’s Policy Manager for Vans and Urban, comments: “While the report shows there is incredible determination to create positive
54
EXPORT&FREIGHT
change across the logistics industry, it also identifies significant barriers that remain, preventing further uptake. FTA – the business organisation representing the sector – is calling on government to address these issues which include grid capacity constraints as well as limited vehicle types and vehicle availability, if the roll out of the
UK’s EV fleet is to continue. “The report outlines fleet operators’ frustrations with the limited vehicle-types available: 71% of respondents who decided against purchasing EVs cited this as the primary reason. For a number of years, FTA has urged manufacturers to progress the development of heavier EVs over 3.5 tonnes, as well as models
such as tippers and pickups, and would like to see more definitive timelines from manufacturers as to when such vehicles will be available. In the meantime, FTA is asking government to recognise these limitations when implementing local and national policies on vehicle access.” FTA’s survey was conducted across a range of fleet operators from small, local businesses to large, international fleets. The guide can be accessed via the following link: fta.co.uk/evreport
