Volvo Buses

UNITED KINGDOM & IRELAND

Expanding Volvo Aftermarket Team

Volvo Bus has expanded its Aftermarket team and as a result has achieved greater localised support in combination with the Volvo dealerships, according to Ian Wallace, Volvo Bus Aftermarket Service Manager – UK & Ireland.
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“We have carefully reviewed our Aftermarket offering and re-structured our team accordingly,” explained Ian Wallace. “This ensures that we continue to meet the demands of operators. I’m delighted with the team we’ve put together. It includes six specialised field operatives and three highly skilled technical people.”

Neil Heron, Area Service Manager South and Andy Olver, Area Service Manager London offer vast experience and industry knowledge to what is, on the whole, a new and exciting Aftermarket team.

The four most recent additions to the Aftermarket team are Darren Green in the Midlands, Paul Jenkins at Thomas Hardie Commercials in the North West, Ricky Mason in Ireland and Arthur Gribbin for the North and Scotland. “Each of these individuals has contributed significantly in strengthening Volvo’s support in their particular geographical area,” added Ian Wallace.

 “Our relationship with the 93 UK and Ireland dealers is also crucial in ensuring that customers fully reap the benefits of the Aftermarket service. We are continually building on the vital support they can offer our department.”

Aftermarket developments this year have seen the promotion of initiatives such as the popular TechTool check-up, designed to help keep operators vehicles on the road and save them money in the long-term.

“TechTool and Volvo Action Service – our 24/7 support and recovery service, have been key initiatives that have been operating out of the 93 strategically placed dealerships in the UK and Ireland,” said Ian Wallace.

“Moving forward towards 2013 and 2014 with the launch of the 7900 hybrid bus and the B11R coach, dealers and Frontline Technicians are set to play an even more crucial role in promoting Aftermarket to operators. So we, as a department, need to ensure that we equip them with the right tools to fully support the service.
“Our dealers and customers like to work with us face-to-face. It humanises the whole process a little more, helping them to build an important trust and understanding. Increasing the quantity of field operative personal visits to dealers and operators was just one of the minor adjustments I implemented when I first came in to the job. I’m delighted with how it’s been working. Expanding our team gives us much greater scope to be able to make those visits more regularly and offer a more personal service.”

An original Volvo Frontline Technician, based at Volvo Truck & Bus, Scotland in Cardonald, Glasgow, Ian is using his wealth of experience in the passenger transport industry as Volvo Bus Technical Support Manager and previously Area Service Manager for Scotland and Northern Ireland to further develop the Aftermarket offering.

“Taking on this role 12 months ago was both challenging and exciting,” explained Ian Wallace. “Customers have found market conditions difficult meaning that they have had to continue to be financially prudent and look for manufacturer support wherever possible.

“The last year has seen us acquire a substantial number of new customers to the Aftermarket business,” he continued. “In addition, we continue to retain many loyal repeat business operators.
 
“We have just under 4,000 customers using the Aftermarket service and are committed to continuing to work on initiatives and services that support those loyal customers as well as ones that will benefit and attract new customers.”



ENDS

06 November 2012

For further information, please contact:
Don Johnston, +44 (0) 1926 414553, don.johnston@volvo.com