Three companies from the Middle East have been named among the top 20 aftersales providers for MAN Trucks across its 400-strong dealer network.
Leading the list is Qatar International Automobiles with Darwish Bin Ahmed & Sons and Terramar Company from the Lebanon closely behind.
According to MAN the rankings were made after competing companies completed seven tests as part of the annual MAN ServiceQualityAward, including theoretical tests about MAN genuine spare parts, warranty and purchased guarantees, practical tests on vehicles such as troubleshooting on trucks with built-in faults, technical tests for brakes, gearboxes and basic bus repairs.
“The nominated Middle East partners rank among the 20 best MAN service workshops in the world,” said David van Graan, managing director, MAN Trucks MEA region. “This proves the strong MAN commitment in the Middle East region towards our customers in matters of service quality, where they benefit from competent advice and a fast and professional service by a highly trained service team.”
Over the past five years, MAN has grown to 23,000 vehicles currently operating in the region which are serviced by 35 service centres. A further 4,000 trucks and 250 buses will have been added by the end of 2011.
“Because of the long distances and taxing terrain involved in regional transport, access to top-quality after-sales service is a major consideration for Middle Eastern truck and bus operators at the time of making a purchase decision. The availability of regular servicing support and ease of obtaining genuine guaranteed spare parts helps keep vehicles’ operational and maintenance costs down over the long term,” added van Graan.
MAN Middle East places a high value on building long-term relationships with its customers through the provision of personalised after-sales support and a strong investment in service in terms of both manpower and ongoing training and certification initiatives, such as the MAN ServiceQualityAward and the MAN Training Academy.
“With MAN ServiceQualityAward we are ensuring that our customers’ requirements are met in full,” said Lars Essmann, SVP aftersales at MAN, and head of after sales world-wide, at the awards ceremony which was recently held in Munich, Germany. “Since the award’s launch in 2010, only considering the development component of this programme, about 2,800 service employees have passed through the severe and demanding selection procedure that allowed them to improve their qualifications.”
