CV Focus episode 1 - Steve Bridge
Episode 1, Aug 03, 2020, 03:21 PM
Doing what’s best for the customer - not the manufacturer - might seem a slightly unorthodox way of doing things, but that’s normal business for Steve Bridge, MD of Mercedes-Benz Vans UK.
But then Steve Bridge isn’t your normal van MD who is chained to a desk, having just spent a day with a delivery driver to remind himself of what life at the front line is really like.
And, rather than gaining insights purely through sales - which during lockdown saw the Sprinter as Britain’s best selling vehicle, beating even cars - Steve also runs a ‘business barometer’ to keep ahead of trends asking the views of 2,000 van drivers, owners and operators.
As someone who witnessed the big switch from petrol to diesel vans in the early 1980s, he looks at the new ‘big switch’ to electric. Is it going to be as hard as some suggest?
In a wide-ranging discussion with Matt Eisenegger, he also explains why ‘white-van man’ is much more than the stereotypical “owner of lane 3 on a motorway” - but a modern-day hero who puts food on your table, provides emergency medical treatment and fixes your broken-down vehicle.
Steve sets out how this challenges everything from delivery methods to the digitisation of shopping and why diesel is no longer needed for vans in cities.
But then Steve Bridge isn’t your normal van MD who is chained to a desk, having just spent a day with a delivery driver to remind himself of what life at the front line is really like.
And, rather than gaining insights purely through sales - which during lockdown saw the Sprinter as Britain’s best selling vehicle, beating even cars - Steve also runs a ‘business barometer’ to keep ahead of trends asking the views of 2,000 van drivers, owners and operators.
As someone who witnessed the big switch from petrol to diesel vans in the early 1980s, he looks at the new ‘big switch’ to electric. Is it going to be as hard as some suggest?
In a wide-ranging discussion with Matt Eisenegger, he also explains why ‘white-van man’ is much more than the stereotypical “owner of lane 3 on a motorway” - but a modern-day hero who puts food on your table, provides emergency medical treatment and fixes your broken-down vehicle.
Steve sets out how this challenges everything from delivery methods to the digitisation of shopping and why diesel is no longer needed for vans in cities.