Upon arrival the show immediately felt separate to old years - the only covering exhibit was a lonely Movano and the entry foyer was light on population queuing to get into the hall.
The show was separate - but not necessarily worse. There was only one hall in play instead of the usual three or four, but this meant that it was easy to cover the show in a day, as the task ahead seemed less daunting.
Philip Heine of T-Cards Direct told us, "This is a totally separate type of show - there are genuinely less people, but the population we have spoken to are more serious buyers."
For the small exhibitor this is good news, as the visitors had more time to stop and discuss enterprise with exhibitors that they would ordinarily have to pass by. For the visitor this was also good news as they had the occasion to delve into the arresting small stands for beneficial aftermarket add-ons. Where are the Trucks?
Hartshorne Group wisely had a truck on show Despite the publicity in strengthen of the show informing visitors that there would be no trucks and the focus is on the 'operational' side of the enterprise our (admittedly unscientific) straw poll of visitors tells us that nearly half of the population we talked to believed there would be some trucks on show. Dealers on Show There were just two local dealers taking benefit of the show - Hartshornes and Guests. Hartshornes genuinely pushed the boat out with an impressive stand right at the entry to the show, next door to the new Movano. This may be clever reasoning on the part of the organisers, as the stand contained an Fl Chassis cab - one of the few trucks at the show and the first car seen by everybody arrival straight through the entrance.
Either way, it was a coup for Hartshorne's group marketing manager, Alan Southall. He tells us "We have had a lot of interest in the stand today and all the staff have been rushed off their feet." The enterprise is promoting all areas of their business, from new Volvo sales to their Hy-Parts hydraulics operation under their 'Total vehicle Solutions' banner.
The other dealer on show was Guests - with an Eco Daily Cng van on their stand. Again the focus was on the supplementary aftermarket services that Guests can provide - including their Speedliner lining application service. What about the Vans? Vauxhall It was Vauxhall that stole the show with their 'reveal' of the New Movano, (which everybody has already seen abundance of photos of). Vauxhall Chairman and market car lover, Bill Parfait told journalists that the enterprise has a goal to be the amount one in van sales, since they are already amount one in van institute in the Uk with 600,000 Vivaros made in Luton since 2002.
He feels that the new Movano will help to get Vauxhall above Ford in the Uk's top sales spot as the outgoing model performed particularly poorly last year with sales of just 2,000 units. Steve Bryant, market car Brand owner at Vauxhall said that Vauxhall would want to duplicate that next year. He believes that pushing the Movano up the weight range and adding rear wheel drive ability will give the car more 'heritage'.
The target for this year is to move 30,000 vans - against the backdrop of 25,000 last year - although the targets will need to go up in subsequent years to get to their target of a amount one spot.
To help Vauxhall in achieving their lofty goals, they are set to heighten the heavy van network. Under the banner of 'Premier service Network' the existing 35 'Premier' dealer points will be extensive to 98. Chairman, Parfait explained, "we have received more applications from dealers wishing to cover heavy vans than the enterprise model can support. Renault Renault used the show as a get underway pad for their new Uk ad strap line, 'Trust Europe's No.1 Van Manufacturer'.
Renault's impressive stand held no fewer than nine models - including the phase Iii Trafic resplendent in the Aa livery.
There were abundance of Kangoos on show, including the new long wheelbase version, the Kangoo Van Maxi, one of which was shown as a five-seat crew van. The all-new versions of the French brand's new challenger in the large van sector are thinkable, to be the star attractions, included the twin rear wheel rear-wheel drive version.
Twin Rear Wheel Drive ad 15m3 for expert Peugeot In their 200th year, Peugeot used the show to great consequent to demonstrate their new logo and their sales operation in the first quarter of 2010. Taking pride of place alongside the innovative U-Tail demount plan was the small Bipper in full royal Mail livery. The 2,000-vehicle Royal Mail deal goes some way to explaining Peugeot's sterling operation in the new car registrations league for the first quarter of this year with the Bipper accounting for nearly half of Peugeot's registrations with 2,334 units of Peugeots total of 4,885.
A Peugeot spokesperson informed us that the enterprise is not plainly being bought by offering cheap deals or easy finance - "the enterprise is all merit business, not bought business".
A striking display of Peugeot's quirky do-it-all Roadload U-tail Boxer van plan was impressive. Based on the Boxer chassis, the U-shaped chassis gives the car the ability to lower the load bed to the floor. The converters, Roadload, have designed a series of demountable bodies to fit the chassis to turn it into a dropside, caged tipper or box van - giving flexibility to operators such as local authorities.
It is likely that only local authorities could illustrate the £32,000 upwards price tag, mainly for the benefit of a ground load height.
Using the impact of the U-Tail, Peugeot launched their conversion programme for the Boxer Van at the show. Although small when compared to Citroen's offerings, Peugeot's new conversion programme will offer a single point of feel from the point of order to customer delivery. There will be a range of popular accessories including mesh cages, tail lifts, towing hitches and warning beacons to the two approved conversions, the Boxer 335 L2 120 Tipper and the Boxer 335 L3 120 Dropside. Nissan Nissan's display focused around their new baby, the Nv200 - on show in van and combi variants. With a sell price from £12,205 and Co2 emissions of only 137g/km, Nissan's new van could prove a success. Nissan's Lcv sales and marketing director, Francis Bleasdale comments that the dealer network now have adequate stock to sell with a 4-6 week lead time to get the vans in from the Barcelona factory. "We are 35% ahead of our enterprise plan for the Nv200 with 250 Nv200 registered in March alone".
Bleasdale attributes the success to the broad petition of the car to small local businesses. Many clubs have used stepping back time to evaluate the optimum sized car for their business, rather than opting for the biggest available just in case.
The show was a good occasion to se the Pathfinder Van launched last year alongside the revised Navara. The Pathfinder Van comes with whether obscured glass or a full panelled body and is available from £21,682.
Perhaps more telling was the vans that were not on show. Although "The Interstar continues", according to Bleasdale it was not on show and does not take the updated form of the Movano and Master.
Commenting on the increase of Nissan's dealer network, Bleasdale tells us, "With a growing stock line-up of class important market Vehicles, we need the widest potential dealer network to offer the complete package to our customers across Britain. We're delighted to introduce our four new centres to the fold, and especially proud of the Chatfields Birmingham site which offers the first dedicated Nissan Cv centre in the Uk." Fiat Fiat's display focused heavily on their sitcom fleet management firm introduced in Fiat Professional's Tv advertising campaign "The Fleet" and Lightfoot logistics. All six vans on the stand were closed in white and feature the blue Lightfoot Logistics logo. The centrepiece vehicles were two new Doblo Cargos, which were launched in the Uk last month.
More than Just Vans.... The whole show was totally focused on the add-ons to market vehicles that make them more efficient, safer, prettier, cleaner etc. Etc. So what is of interest to the Cv Dealer? Back to Basics Phil Heine of T-Cards Direct tell us that 2009 was the best year they have had selling their workshop management system. He accredits this to the fact that many workshop owners are cutting out unnecessary costs, such as software and the related preserve costs and switching back to the hand-operated T-cards system. Since his typical customer are market workshops with between three and fifteen technicians, this news should be right up the street of the median market car dealer.
Handistep have taken their passion for health and security to the next level with their new product, launched at the show - a yellow version of their thriving Handistep. All Handistep products feature reflective tape as standard, but the new yellow step gives increased visibility for safe loading and unloading - plus whilst the car is on the move. Fire!
Strong Plastics, the enterprise behind many of the fire machine bodies in the Uk was showing off its skills in expert bodybuilding. Their unique products are all fabricated from engineering grade polypropylene plastic, which makes them last a long time and render them 100% recyclable. Excellent for local authority use. They were showing off their pod for a Ranger pickup - the Hilux version is on the way. A pickup canopy is cheaper, but the compel of the self-contained unit could make the ideal clarification for an authority or utility client. abundance up top
Rhino's new Ladder Clamp Top roofrack builder Rhino had an impressive showing - interest was centred around their new lockable ladder clamp ideas which, as was demonstrated hundreds of times a day, is much faster to use than a original ladder clamp, plus it has been crash tested at Millbrook. More costly that the £25 clamp it replaces, retailing at £38.50+Vat, Rhino claim that the added charge is worthwhile.
Primedesign's side loading ladder ideas Primedesign, a Belgium operation was showing a Us-designed side-mounted ladder loading/unloading system. Called the Ergorack, the makers claim that it is easier to use than original rear-loading systems as you can park in a tight spot and still unload. Primedesign also demonstrated their Alurack - a lightweight roofrack suitable for all vans that, the makers claim, is priced very competitively. The Show is the Belgian firm's first foray into the Uk market. "We've had some very good leads and this is a very encouraging start," said Koen Bessmans, managing director. "Some of the sales leads involve firms with large fleets and we've had strong interest from several potential enterprise partners." Proppa People
Sensible loading height - £895+Vat +del Trade price A smart trio of pickups graced the Proppa.com stand demonstrating some of the range of van accessories available from the proppa.com website. New for the show is the high roof, side occasion canopy for the Ranger, Hi-lux, long bed L200 and the Rodeo. With the extra height it makes the load bed of these pickups roughly useable - demonstrated by transporting one of Proppa's other products a smart-looking quadbike. Also on show on the Proppa stand was the Smm hardtop, the only pickup canopy made from steel instead of the usual fibreglass. Boss, Adam Weaver told us that despite the weight penalty there were advantages in terms of the ability of construction and the fit onto the vehicle. The Smm retails at £1259 including Vat & delivery.
Bright working conditions arresting Lights Labcraft's lighting display showed what can be done to heighten working conditions in the median panel van. Too many conversions give small plan to the lighting in the rear, but it genuinely can help the operator when working. From a maintenance point of view, their Led lighting range can run for over 60,000 hours (or nearly seven years non-stop) - this makes them a fit and forget clarification to looking what you are doing in the back of a van! Speed Merchants On the Speedliner stand, the enterprise has broadened their targeting away from plainly pick up load beds to more expert applications - in single the food industry with their Speedliner Hc active anti bacterial product. This widened petition could make it worthwhile taking on a Speedliner dealer/application centre. One to Watch... Peter Dallas of Dal-Tec has got his sights firmly set on the market car sector. The enterprise specialises in aftermarket electronics - reversing aids, handsfree kits etc. But has seen the occasion for a focused approach to sales in the truck and van industry. Expanding their stock briefcase in this area, the enterprise now offers rear security steps and towbars. The Bury Handsfree kit was impressive - you can Bluetooth join together two phones at the same time - great news if you have a work and a personal mobile. It can even play your iPod/iPhone - all controlled by your voice. I'm buying one. Verdict Although the show was definitely smaller, there were definitely fewer population we believe it was worthwhile for serious visitors and exhibitors alike.
The market vehicle Operator Show - Our senseIn my business, I get a lot of calls from moms and dads. Habitancy whose sixteen to eighteen year old sons are begging them to put a lift kit on their trucks or Suvs. Habitancy who want to know if it's safe, prudent and responsible to lift their teenagers' vehicles for recreational or visual purposes. If you're having these or similar questions, be assured that you are not alone.
A lift kit can be a very good present for your immature son's or daughter's truck or Suv. Lift kits can increase ground clearance, lessen the jarring of the automobile that is caused by irregularities in the road, and give the car a unique and beefy look. However, before you jump into the world of lifted vehicles, there are a few things you should think in finding the spoton lift kit for your young driver.
Suspension Lifts vs. Body Lifts
There are two main types of lift kits available today. Suspension lift kits are a system of springs used to raise a car by suspending the frame, body, machine and power train above the wheels. Body lift kits are a system of blocks used to raise a car by suspending the body above the frame. I advise suspension lift kits for the performance-minded customer, and body lift kits for the cost-minded customer.
If your son or daughter is only interested in a lift kit for the visual effect, I normally advise the body lift kits. They are easier to install, do minute to nothing to succeed the ride potential of the vehicle, and allow for the addition of bigger tires if desired. A body lift kit can make a car look tough at a cost-effective price.
However, if your son or daughter is also interested in the operation capabilities of a lift kit, or would like to learn to drive skillfully off-road, I would advise a suspension lift kit. Although a bit more expensive, suspension lift kits give a car the capabilities to crawl through dirt roads, rocks and trees, and even mud and water. They give a car the potential to go where most vehicles cannot, and see awesome natural wonders.
The Best Lift Kit Manufacturers
Once you've decided on either a suspension or body lift kit, you will need to know what type you want. Now when it comes to body lift kits, there is one world-popular enterprise that I always recommend: operation Accessories. operation Accessories offers high potential components, easy-to-follow factory instructions, and low prices.
When it comes to a suspension lift kit, the decision becomes a minute more difficult. There are many great suspension lift kit manufacturers that offer many separate features. In selecting the spoton one, you will need to think cost, operation capability, ride quality, warranty and customer service.
Cost
If pricing is your major concern, I normally advise either Pro Comp or Trailmaster. For what you get, these two associates offer among the best prices around. Both associates have whole lift packages, together with all requisite components and hardware, with tough trail-ready parts.
Performance Capability
If your truck's operation in muddy or rocky conditions is your major concern, I normally advise either Fabtech or SuperLift. Although a minute more expensive than many of the other manufacturers, these associates build kits for hard-nosed off-road fun. With potential components and complicated packages, Fabtech and SuperLift will give a truck or Suv high operation capabilities in any off-road situation.
Ride Quality
Most Habitancy already know that a suspension lift will sway your vehicle's ride quality. If this is a concern, there are manufacturers whose lift kits get great reviews for on-road ride and comfort. Personally, I hear the best testimonials for Rancho and Skyjacker. Rancho and Skyjacker are two of the oldest and most respected lift kit associates in the world. Their kits are created for good off-road capabilities without negatively effecting ride quality. Their kits will help a lifted car declare at least some of its factory feel.
Warranty & customer Service
And finally, when purchasing a suspension lift kit, you must do some explore into the enterprise with which you plan to make your purchase. Lift kits of any kind can have problems, missing pieces or defective parts. I very advise checking each company's warranty guidelines, as well as finding how easy it is to get them on the phone or reach them via email in case of an emergency. It is requisite to find the enterprise you feel will backup their stock the best.
Overall, purchasing a lift kit for your teenager can be a great learning and bonding experience. If you succeed these rules, you should be able to maximize that caress by selecting the best lift kit for you and your child's needs.
choosing the Right Lift Kit for Your Teenager's Truck or SuvStory of the 79 Ford Pace Truck vs. 62 Chevy Nova Tube. Duration : 2.70 Mins.
