Daimler Truck Financial achieved the No. 1 ranking in the annual dealer satisfaction survey conducted by the American Truck Dealers, a division of the National Automobile Dealers Association.
Daimler Truck Financial delivered the largest year-over-year increase with a 15 percent improvement on last year’s score and recorded the highest score since ATD started measuring captives in 2004.
“Our dealers recognized the substantial efforts that our employees are making each and every day to support our dealers’ business,” says Richard Howard, head of Daimler Truck Financial. “Our score and ranking is especially significant given the environment we are operating in today and the considerable changes our employees had to go through the last two years.”
The annual ATD survey is mailed to medium- and heavy-duty new truck dealers in the United States. Dealers evaluate their original equipment manufacturer in the following categories: value, marketing, policy parts, people and finance.
In the finance category, dealers rank their satisfaction with their captive finance partner in six areas:
“We will continue to be proactive with our dealers in working closely with them and listening carefully to their concerns to ensure that we are constantly developing new initiatives and trying to enhance current offerings,” Howard says.
Brad Fauvre, chief executive officer of Velocity Vehicle Group of Los Angeles with Freightliner dealerships in Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas, says Daimler Truck Financial’s top ranking in the ATD survey is a result of being a strong finance partner with the Freightliner dealer body.
“They are making sure everyone is successful for the long haul,” Fauvre says. “They have demonstrated their responsiveness to the dealer body by fixing systems, redesigning processes for quick credit decisions and by improving their flexibility during the downturn.”
Fauvre is chairman of the Daimler Truck North America dealer council. “They are a consistent provider of market-appropriate programs like leasing rates for vocational customers,” he says. “Unlike the banks that get in and out of the market, Daimler Truck Financial only does truck financing, and they are always focused on the end-user, and that makes them a very consistent partner.”
