Haulotte's new service strategy

Heading the new programme as group customer service manager is Patrice Metairie, formerly manager of Haulotte's Creusot factory; “We think that a lot of our customers want to externalise the maintenance for their fleets”, Mr Metairie told AI, “For us it is an opportunity to meet the demand.” He said services would cover Haulotte machines and eventually other brands as well.

Mr Metairie said demand had been coming from customers in the UK, France and Germany, but the service would be offered worldwide through its subsidiaries and dealers. The first companies to take up the full service option – in three to six month's time – will be Lev and UK Platforms, Haulotte's own rental companies. Mr Metairie said other contracts were under negotiation.

The aim of the programme is to double the size of the business from the current 5% of Haulotte's turnover to 10% within two or three years, said Mr Metairie, “It's a very exciting situation because we have a lot of things to do and a lot of customers waiting for the service.”

Haulotte's full service programme resembles a scaled-down version of the ServicePlus business established last year by JLG in the US. JLG aims to generate over a third of its revenues from aftermarket sales within five years.