ZIMOCO has sold six second-hand trucks from the eight it imported in the past three weeks under SelecTrucks Zimbabwe, a newly-launched general dealership under its banner.
BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA
SelecTrucks is one of the largest global retailers in the commercial vehicle industry, known for selling second-hand trucks and is a brand under Daimler AG (a German multinational automotive corporation). However, though the brand is under Daimler AG, manufacturers of Mercedes Benz, the SelecTrucks brand will be owned by the general dealers.
Speaking to reporters just after the official launch of SelecTrucks Zimbabwe on Tuesday in Harare, Zimoco chief executive officer Bob Crossley said the new dealership will be selling second-hand trucks, ranging anywhere from $30 000 to $70 000.
“I think we have sold about six out of the eight that has come in so far and we will be rolling it on a regular basis,” he said.
“They have only just come in, so I would say that was in the last three weeks.”
He said SelecTrucks Zimbabwe comes in the light of a huge appetite for second-hand vehicles in the country.
The launch of SelecTrucks in Zimbabwe comes after a partnership between Daimler Trucks and Buses Southern Africa and Zimoco to bring in Mercedes-Benz trucks, buses and vans, FUSO trucks, Freightliner and Western Star Trucks vehicles to the local market.
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Daimler Trucks and Buses Southern Africa will be the suppliers of the vehicles to be sold in the country under SelecTrucks Zimbabwe.
Crossley said that they were targeting trucking companies who do cross border transport, as they have a few foreign currency allocations from the central bank.
“They (crossborder transport companies) get a little bit of allocation in foreign currency back, so we are expecting them to use their own foreign currency to be able to purchase the vehicles. We cannot source the foreign currency because as you all know new trucks sales or car sales are low priority for the government,” he said.
A TruckStore manager based in South Africa, Bruno Palma said SelecTrucks Zimbabwe is the fourth centre in the world and the first in Africa.
TruckStore is a vehicle distributor of trucks under Daimler AG.
“It is one of the most competitive regions (sub-Saharan Africa) in the world for used vehicles. The amount of trucks in the region is huge and we had a very long discussion with Bob Crossley and the Zimoco team which is the reason why we chose this country as one of the first centres,” he said.
TruckStore are also expected to supply other brands of vehicles, apart from those Zimoco have already committed to sell. In the first seven months ending July, Zimoco sold two vehicles under its trucks and buses section , down from the six they sold over the 2016 comparative.
