In yet another twist to Daimler Trucks' representation in New Zealand, former Scania distributor CablePrice has become the South Island dealer for Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner and FUSO trucks.
Two announcements in February signalled the April 1 end of Prestige Commercial Vehicles' 11-year representation of the three makes on the Mainland.
The bombshell came just five months after Auckland-based Freightliner and Merc dealer Trucks & Trailers announced it had bought Prestige – giving it a nationwide presence.
Daimler Trucks Australia and CablePrice announced the Merc and Freightliner dealership – Daimler president and CEO Daniel Whitehead describing it as "a massive win for our customers…"
CablePrice had been the Scania distributor for 27 years until the Swedish manufacturer set up its own NZ operation 15 months ago – relegating it to the role of a service agent for Scania trucks and buses.
In a separate announcement on the same day, Fuso NZ confirmed that – also as of April 1 – CablePrice is also the FUSO sales and service dealer for the South Island.
It pointed out that PCV's owner since last October – Trucks & Trailers – is "a Freightliner and Mercedes-Benz competitor with Fuso NZ sister company Keith Andrews Trucks."
CablePrice chairman David Harvey said that the company is "delighted to be partnering with Daimler Trucks."
And the addition of FUSO "is perfect timing, as it broadens our commercial vehicle product range, enabling us to offer our customers the best of European, Japanese and American trucking design and technology across the three Daimler brands."
Harvey said this is a time of "exciting growth for the company's commercial vehicle and heavy machinery business.
"The strength of our network and reputation has given us these fantastic opportunities."
The 69-year-old CablePrice is owned by Hitachi Construction Machinery and is the NZ distributor for its machines – while also representing Bell equipment, McCloskey, Montabert and MB crushers and HSC cranes. (It has also been the NZ distributor of John Deere construction, compaction and forestry machinery, but announced last month that this arrangement is coming to an end in NZ. The John Deere distribution will transition to a new representative over the next five months).
It has an established dealer network, with sites in Christchurch, Invercargill and Greymouth. 
Harvey said that CablePrice's South Island staff "are excited with the potential of this new partnership. We're all looking forward to providing our new Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner customers with the same proven sales and support for which CablePrice is renowned.
"The strength of CablePrice comes from delivering the highest level of after-sales service and assistance to our customers who buy and use the world's leading brands and products."
Daimler Trucks' Whitehead said: "We're excited to have such a well-established and reputable network partner represent our Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner brands in the South Island."
Customers can "expect the best sales, service and support from an operation that has more than 65 years of experience servicing the heavy transport industry in the South Island," he added. 
As Whitehead says, the changes occur "at a great time for Daimler Trucks: The Mercedes-Benz Actros will soon be even further improved, continuing its cabover leadership, while the Freightliner Cascadia is set to become the clear class leader when it arrives in the next few months. 
"It's wonderful to be able to support these groundbreaking products with such a high-quality dealership network."
Fuso NZ CEO Kurtis Andrews says that the appointment of CablePrice as its South Island dealer "follows a wide-ranging board review of the performance of the FUSO network nationwide.
"For some time, we have been concerned that the composition of our network has not been meeting the expectations of FUSO customers. We have explored a number of avenues to improve this and have now made the tough decision to refresh our South Island representation.
"PCV has been the FUSO representative in the South Island since 2009. Over the past few years, FUSO's market share in this region has seen a significant decline. 
"The Fuso NZ board feels that a fresh approach is required to reverse this trend and that CablePrice has the structure, network and ability to deliver on that expectation.
"This is not a decision that has been taken lightly and I would like to thank the PCV team for the effort put into representing FUSO for the past 11 years."