In the past fortnight, we’ve heard truck manufacturers, rental and leasing giants, and tier 2 suppliers reflect on the impact of the recession: namely that as conditions got worse and the focus on costs got ever greater, so operators’ ability to focus on the total cost of ownership faded.
And yet now with the economy improving, operators are apparently able to focus on the true cost of operating a vehicle, uptime vs downtime, durable/reliable premium products costing more upfront but costing less than their value rivals over a three- or five-year period of operation, etc
Why should that be?
Clearly when times are hard, all we see when considering the purchase of a premium product, whether it be a truck, a trailer, a tyre, or an oil, is that premium price itself – and that price scares us away.
Some premium products have no value proposition in the real world (£5,000 watches, Bugatti Veyrons, £1,000 suits, etc), but often a few minutes’ analysis of true cost can prove that other premium products offer more value than their ‘value’ (or cheaper as we used to call it) alternatives.
Maybe the inability to focus on TCO in deep recession is because we’re time-poor?
Time to invest in an expensive watch, methinks.