Junction 6 Commercials used truck dealer focus

Established in 2004 in Birmingham, Junction 6 Commercials has been providing quality used vehicles in the UK and around the world ever since. A family business, built on the principles of hard work and great customer service, the company has a small team spanning 35 years of industry experience selling a wide range of rigids and tractor units. We catch up with operations director Bradley David to find out just how the used truck market has been for Junction 6 Commercials.

CM: How’s business?

BD: Business is good. We have recently expanded into a neighbouring site, which has allowed for extra stock and will give room for further workshops in the near future. We deal with both export and UK customers and are kept busy across the two markets. The run-up to the holiday season is always a better period, and this brings lots of opportunities for buying and selling. We also work very hard to provide a good service for our customers, and that keeps them coming back. Most of our sales are to repeat customers and most of our new customers come in based on recommendations because of the level of service we offer.

CM: What’s been selling really well recently and why?

BD: We are finding that customers are opting for lower-priced vehicles at the moment so they can reduce their use of finance. With rates being unpredictable, it’s a much more attractive option to own the vehicle outright from the start – although higher cost units are still moving well.

CM: Why are customers coming to Junction 6 Commercials?

BD: We are centrally located, only a couple of minutes from junction 6 of the M6, easy to find and convenient for passing hauliers. We’ve been here for over 10 years and having recently expanded, we aren’t going anywhere soon. We do our very best to provide a personal touch for our customers and try to be as flexible as possible when it comes to both sales and aftersales. 

We understand how important these vehicles are to livelihoods, so doing our very best to get vehicles ready efficiently and effectively is top priority. For this reason, a good portion of our business is from repeat customers who continue to purchase exclusively from us because of the experience they get.

CM: How do you think the used truck market will change in the next five years?

BD: With how unpredictable the market has been over the past five years, it’s almost impossible to say. Without a significant advance in technology, I am doubtful we will see many electric HGVs coming into the used market. However, if they do, I suspect they will be part of an extremely niche market, given the challenges involved with them.

There are also a few manufacturers whose residual values have dropped significantly below that which we would normally see, so I would expect these to come back up to comparative levels to match the other brands. Without any other world-altering events like Covid, I think it will be business as usual.

CM: What’s keeping you awake at night?

BD: We try to make sure we get things right on site before a truck leaves the yard. That gives us and our customers peace of mind and means that we aren’t being kept awake at night! We have a small team and we work hard to do our best for our customers and for the business as a whole. That has served us well up to now, and I believe it will continue to do so.

  - This article was previoulsy published in Commercial Motor, to subscribe see the latest Commercial Motor subscription offer