Coleman Milne Newsletter - Vol. 3

Four decades of COLEMAN MILNE Mercedes-Benz Volume 3

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In demand The Coleman Milne Mercedes-Benz E300e Plug-in Hybrid has taken the funeral sector by storm. Its introduction to our product range has been extremely well received, and the staggering demand for the vehicle has so far been unrelenting.

We’re advising businesses that wish to take their vehicle range to the next level to place their order now.

This advice is in response to the issues surrounding the supply of semiconductors around the globe and the current circumstances in Eastern Europe that have been well documented of late. With halts in production and limited part supplies affecting manufacturing plants in the UK and abroad, the automotive sector is one of many industries to be impacted by this crisis and these factors will have a detrimental effect on our delivery schedules. Please contact your area sales manager for further delivery information.

Despite this scarcity causing problems for vehicle manufacturers, and even slowing down our own production to an extent, there is no need to rethink your order. Consider the cost of purchasing an alternative fleet of vehicles against the time that you will need to wait to receive your order. The demand for these vehicles speaks for itself, and whilst there is a drop-off in the number of vehicles that are readily available at this moment in time, we hope you agree that our new plug-in hybrid Mercedes-Benz is well worth the wait.

Our message to our customers is clear: if you want to add the market’s flagship vehicle to your range as soon as possible, the best time to order is right now.

Best wishes Graham Clow National Sales Manager

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Straight talking The automotive sector has undergone a fundamental shift in recent months, here Sales Manager Graham Clow explains what it means for the funeral industry.

There has been a perfect storm brewing in the automotive industry over the past few years. First there was Covid-19, which shut vehicle and parts producer’s global manufacturing facilities. Then came the semi-conductor shortage – a deficit of the materials needed to make the many microchips fitted to all new cars.

After that there was a shortage of various raw materials as well as transportation to move components from one place to another, which is being exacerbated by continuing tensions in Eastern Europe.

If you’ve gone into a car dealership recently and tried to buy yourself a new car, you have probably experienced the effects of these shortages. Delivery times for new vehicles have gone from a matter of weeks pre-pandemic to many months today.

As a vehicle converter, we experience these shortages in a very similar way to car dealerships or even consumers.

Where we have traditionally had an ample supply of vehicles, deliveries of

base vehicles for conversion are now hard-fought victories.

We’re not alone in this. Of all vehicle converters in the UK, only those that build for the NHS are given priority vehicles. The fact that we are able to continue receiving vehicles at all is a testament to the long and prosperous relationship we have with manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz. I fear that many funeral vehicle convertors will not be so lucky.

However, the issues do not end there.

To explain this next part, I feel that it’s important to be as transparent with you as possible and to give you an understanding of how we operate commercially.

Our relationship with vehicle manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz is quite a simple one. We buy our vehicles in high volumes and, for committing a big order that helps to fill their books and keep their factories busy, the manufacturer gives us a significant discount. This discount is then passed on

to our customers in the list price of our limousine or hearse.

However, today manufacturers’ order books are already full and the factories are producing as many vehicles as they can. The manufacturers can’t offer us these discounts, and so the cost of the vehicles we’re buying has gone up.

We have looked at this in every way we possibly can, and I’m afraid to say that we are going to have to follow suit.

From 10th March 2022 the list price of our new Mercedes-Benz vehicles will be increasing by up to 12% depending on the specification. While this is not the extent of the cost increases we are facing, we believe that this will allow us to continue producing vehicles to the standard our customers expect for the long-term.

While I appreciate that things are tough for many people and businesses at the moment, I hope you understand why it is we need to take this decision.

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There are also some positives to bear in mind. Firstly, unlike many funeral vehicle converters we have a guaranteed supply of Mercedes-Benz base vehicles. As such, our order book remains open and the quality of our products, engineering and services remains unchanged.

We’ve also committed to a price freeze on any new or used vehicles we currently have in stock to help businesses that are in most urgent need.

Finally, I would urge any of you with questions or concerns about this news to talk to me or a member of my team and, as always, we will do all we can to help.

A learning curve Coleman Milne sent its employees to a training course led by Mercedes-Benz, which addressed the vehicle manufacturer’s EQ-powered vehicles.

With the automotive sector’s adoption of hybrid and electric vehicles continuing to gather pace, Mercedes-Benz held a training course that focused on its EQ-powered vehicles. The EQ range, which became available earlier this year, doesn’t just include battery-electric vehicles, but their associated products and services, too.

Seeking to ensure that its staff remain at the forefront of the technological advancements affecting the industry, Coleman Milne sent members of its staff to these courses. Following the introduction of the Mercedes-Benz Plugin Hybrid range to the company’s product offering, it was particularly important that staff members fully understood the mechanisms of these vehicles.

A wide range of Coleman Mine’s employees have completed at least some form of electric vehicle training, including its sales representatives.

Naturally, the company’s technicians have undertaken the highest level of training and are therefore fully qualified to work with electric vehicles.

Despite having such a high level of training under their belts, these technicians took on the course in order to further enhance their understanding of the Mercedes-Benz EQ range in particular. In their day-to-day jobs at

Coleman Milne, they will take MercedesBenz vehicles apart to a greater degree than the manufacturer’s own team, so a complete comprehension of the electrical systems is vital in order to ensure their safety.

Graham Clow, Coleman Milne’s National Sales Manager, had this to say on the training: “With the safety of our staff of paramount importance to us, we were delighted to be able to send some of our team on this course. The course itself was extremely useful; our technicians obtained a greater knowledge on how to work safely on the Mercedes-Benz electric powertrain, and in doing so, provided us with more of an insight into how to improve our own Coleman Milne Mercedes-Benz products.

COLEMAN MILNE Wigan Road, Westhoughton, Bolton. BL5 2EE Tel: 01942 815600 Fax: 01942 815115 Email: info@coleman-milne.co.uk