SALES THROUGH SERVICES -Dec 1, 2005

Thursday, December 1st 2005
11:02 AM
Once again the New Year is well under way and we at Mammoth Trucks BC Ltd. are gearing ourselves up for a busy year. The most exciting part is the coming together of our very own Mammoth ‘Euro-American’ R.H.D. cab-over. For those customers and interested truckers without access to the internet our Euro-American project is the blending of the best of Europe & America in one truck. American engine, transmission and axles in 6 x 4 configurations with a R.H.D. European cab.

This is no overnight achievement. Based on 40 years of service from our humble beginnings in Chingola in 1963, when Geoff Gogle opened his small workshop on David Kaunda Rd. Many of our customers are children and grandchildren of our original customers.

We took great pride in keeping our customers on the road and even if you had a vehicle that the regular repair shops would not even look at, like a Panhard DKW, Citroen, Nash, Studebaker, Armstrong-Siddeley, Daimler, Simca, Singer, Humber, Etc., Etc., we found the parts (or made them) to keep them on the road. The next step was to capitalize on our service reputation and sell cars and trucks, initially on a small commission basis, from the emerging Japanese manufacturers like Toyota, Mazda, and Datsun. After acquiring a sub-dealership for Daihatsu cars and light trucks our growth accelerated, which ultimately led to a full franchise for Mitsubishi cars and trucks. As our path tended to lean more to Class 8 trucks we secured the White/Western Star franchise for Central Africa. Our success with marketing a ‘new’ brand of truck in an already crowded market place came with lots of hard work in proving to our customers that we were marketing a superior motor vehicle. In the ensuring years we sold 100 Stars in to Central and Southern Africa. No mean achievement, when each truck averaged out at around U.S. $100,000 per unit.

Looking into our crystal ball we saw the market changing from the U.S. $100 grand truck to the U.S. $15,000 level. This led us to North America to join the giant ‘rat race’ never forgetting the original modus operandi ‘Sales through Service.’ Now 6 years down the track and another 130 plus Class 8 trucks exported to Central/Southern Africa together with a parts supply service that really ‘works,’ we enter a new era. Exporting a truck with our own brand name and backing it up with parts and technical service.

This truck has arrived right on time, just when the road and traffic authorities are putting pressure on bonneted (conventional) and left hand drive truck operators. Obviously we will not stop marketing our L.H.D. trucks, but for those truckers that do cross-border operations you can buy your next truck from us. The engine of choice for our Mammoth ‘Euro’ is the Cummins N14 but we will also offer Detroit and Cat engines as customer preferred options.

Once again we are breaking ground with offering our customers a ‘custom built’ pre-owned truck. Your feed back is appreciated. Until next time – ‘Keep on trucking.’

Written by Geoff Gogle
Dated: 12-01-05