Mack announces “rebranding,” renewed on-highway initiative

Mack Trucks held a round table meeting with incoming sales and marketing president Stephen Roy in Allentown, PA., last week and laid out its plans for the immediate future, which include a high-profile “rebranding” effort at the ConExpo construction show in Las Vegas next month and plans to to increase sales and marketshare in long-haul and over-the-road trucking applications. At the same time, Roy says Mack will continue to develop new, technologically advanced products, including enhancements to its Guard Dog telematics system with new relationships with Telogis and PeopleNet.

Roy noted that Mack has been continually investing in its dealer net, pouring in more than $300 million in investments since 2010 and driving a 50 percent increase in its dealers’ technician force. “Moreover,” Roy stresses, “That investment has included an educational boost. Today I am pleased to tell you that one in every four Mack technicians on the job today is certified as a Master Technician.”

In terms of overall performance, Roy said there was “no reason” Mack can’t be above 10 percent in North American Class 8 marketshare this year, adding that the company’s eventual target number is “much higher.” A key part of that push will be an increased emphasis in boosting sales to fleets and in the on-highway/over-the-road markets as well. “The timing is good for a major push into the highway segment of the business,” Roy said. “We need for the entire Mack network to understand that we have the products today that will allow us to compete there. We have certain dealers in areas of the country that enjoy great success in the on-highway market. And we’ll be working hard with our other dealers to help them enter those markets effectively.”

Commenting on Mack’s relationship with Volvo (which acquired Mack from Renault in 2000), Roy said that while the Volvo relationship is vital in terms of research and development and economies of scale, he noted that Mack customers expect a unique product and that Volvo understands the importance of that expectation. “We have unique differences between our brands today,” Roy said. “And there will be very distinct differences from the Volvo brand at Mack in the future.”

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As for the next round of MPG regulations proposed by the White House last week, Roy notes that Mack is already ahead of schedule on meeting pending Greenhouse Gas Regulations and doesn’t expect the new regulations to add any increased pressure on the company’s current technological efforts. “I can tell you that we are focusing already on proper vehicle spec’ing to make sure that our customers see the best MPG gains possible with the GHG regulations,” he added. “We need to make certain that if we have to pass technological and development costs along to our customers that they’re getting concrete benefits in return.”