Mercedes-Benz Trucks has announced that AM Agri (Alan Mackay Machinery) will now offer the Unimog from its depots in Forfar and Aberdeen, providing full sales and service.
The dealer joins three other new names authorised to provide maintenance, repair and parts backup for the brand: Blackburn’s Ciceley Commercials, Ferndown Commercials, of Wimborne, Dorset, and Rossetts Commercials, of Aldershot, in Hampshire.
AM Agri is jointly owned by Alan Mackay and service director Ross Anderson, who is also responsible for the workshop. It covers a primarily arable area from its Forfar base, while its Aberdeen customer base run a predominantly mixed farming system.
Ross Paterson, head of special trucks at Mercedes-Benz Trucks UK, commented: “We are delighted to be welcoming AM Agri (Alan Mackay Machinery) to the Unimog family. As a highly experienced and trusted supplier to the agricultural community, our new point of representation in Scotland is well-placed to grow Unimog’s share of a key market.
“We now look forward to working with the company team to develop opportunities in some of the other sectors in which the multi-talented Unimog also excels. There will certainly be a focus on forestry, but the Unimog is also ideally suited, for example, to utilities operations, highways management, and special emergency services applications.”
AM Agri will initially run the Unimog business from its head office, however, Mr Mackay said: “We plan within the next year or so to open at a third location, to the south of Forfar – this will be our Unimog hub and the base for our dedicated sales executive.”
He originally approached Mercedes-Benz after being invited to put a customer’s machine through it’s paces. “I was mightily impressed and quickly realised the vehicle’s commercial potential,” he recalled. “If you stand still in business then you’re actually going backwards, so I was keen to grasp the opportunity and contacted the Unimog team to enquire about franchise opportunities.
“Unsurprisingly, given the size of the organisation and its premium brand reputation, Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ representatives are extremely professional – a lot more so than we’ve been used to – and the process has been quite lengthy. Having cleared the final hurdles, though, we’re now a fully-fledged Unimog Dealer and very much looking forward to the next, exciting chapter in the story of our business.”
