

RH Commercial Vehicles has seen an increased interest in its rental fleet due to demand from food retailers amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
“We’ve put in an extra 20 tractors this week, all of which have gone into food retailers, to keep up with the unprecedented demand in the shops,” Nigel Baxter, MD at RH Commercial Vehicles (pictured right) said.
Demand on the new and used truck sales side of the business has, however, not been as strong, with enquiries coming to a halt, while other Renault dealers have had enquiries about cancellations.
“The new and used truck side of the business has dried up,” Baxter continued. “There’s very little in terms of enquiries, but there have been a number of people talking about delaying [deliveries]. There’s obviously a cost to that but we’re trying to accommodate people as best we can, but there’s a costs of stocking the vehicle with Renault, and it will get more complicated in terms of cost if it became more protracted. I’ve not yet had anything cancelled, but some dealers have.”
Sales aside, RH Commercials continues to operate as best as it can, but four members of staff are currently self-isolating, two of which are apprentices who have potentially been close to the virus while at college.
“Managing people has definitely become more tricky. Hygiene becomes the hardest thing to deal with but we’re generally healthy bunch. We had a very strong performance in the quarter and have made additional parts purchases from Renault. The workshops are busy and we’ve not had people telling us they’re not bringing vehicles in because of coronavirus.”
Despite RH Commercials taking up additional stock earlier this month, Baxter says he can foresee a time when supplies might become more difficult if manufacturers have closed factories, but reiterates that RH currently has more than 95% of parts in stock while supply lines from Lyon are still said to be flowing.