Kent and northern France might be separated by a stretch of water, but that didn’t deter French dealership group RCM SAGA from buying up Sparshatt Truck & Van in December 2023.

Making its first move into the UK, RCM SAGA, led by the group’s president Ronan Chabot, takes on four locations in Sittingbourne, Dartford, Ashford and Tonbridge, rebranding Sparshatt as SAGA Truck and Van. RCM currently operates nearly 130 sites in continental Europe, 62 of which are Mercedes-Benz dealers for cars, vans and trucks.

The hop across the Channel will be overseen by an experienced hand, Philippe Canetti, director at SAGA Mercedes-Benz Trucks, who, prior to joining RCM, held the position of DAF Trucks MD in France. Canetti is therefore no stranger to the British truck market and sees RCM SAGA’s expansion as a good fit for the existing portfolio.

“If you look at our two main markets – French and British – both are quite similar in a lot of ways. They are large, mature markets and both are fleet customer markets, so a lot of the requests are the same. They are not only buying a truck, they are buying a lot of services around the truck,”
Canetti explains.

Day-to-day operations are unlikely to change since introducing the SAGA brand to the UK back in May.  Canetti sees a huge opportunity to grow the aftersales business here in the UK and noted differences between the two markets. As a result, it is hoped the UK operation will help improve the French business as well.

“The main difference between the two is that in the UK we do much more repair and maintenance than in France, as a lot of the customers in France are still operating their own workshops. In the UK, mostly due to physical and financial constraints, our customers do not have the capacity to have large workshops. Because you have the six-week inspection, that makes our aftersales business even bigger here in the UK than in France. I think we can learn from the British market because what’s happening now in the UK will happen in France within years. The level of maturity in some services here in the UK will be the same in France within two to five years,” he adds.

Discussions for the sale of Sparshatt began as early as 2020, during which time several other opportunities presented themselves in the Mercedes-Benz dealer network, but Canetti insists the decision to buy Sparshatt was about more than just geography.

“Geographically speaking, it is easier to be to present in Kent than in other parts of the country, but we were more confident about the people and the potential. We know everything there is to know about Mercedes – about the quality of the products. You may have the best truck or the best van, but if you don’t have the right people it’s hard to sell and serve the customers. The fact that we are near to London is also something very interesting for us because we will benefit from that potential. It will give us the opportunity to learn from another large city when it comes to e-vehicles,” Canetti says.

While the headquarters are several hundred miles from Paris on the west coast of France, RCM has dealerships around the capital and is well aware of the city’s push for zero-emission transport. The broader picture of alternative fuels is very much on its mind, with the UK once again helping to lead the way as a forerunner for the company’s home market.

“We are 100% sure about the quality of the vehicles that Mercedes will give us. The new e-Actros 600 is a great truck, but now we need to make sure the market is ready to buy that truck and that the ecosystem is ready. We strongly believe that by 2030 we have to serve e-vehicles, diesel engine vehicles, and hydrogen vehicles, whether they be with fuel cell or direct combustion, and that’s difficult for us because we need to be ready to maintain different technologies. Workshops will require investment in specific tools and specific training. This is the main challenge for us – serving different technologies and having the right people, because it’s difficult in mature countries like France and the UK to attract people to commercial vehicle workshops.  This is why we value and nurture our existing talent and strive to attract new recruits for the future of our industry” explains Canetti.

With a lack of qualified technicians affecting business on both sides of the Channel, Canetti says that one of the key things he appreciated most about the Sparshatt business during discussions was its ability to train and retain talent. He expects that high demands will eventually fall on the company’s aftersales support, workshops and staff training to form a key part of its growth plans.

“One of the things that we really liked when we first approached Sparshatt was the fact that it runs its own training academy,” says Canetti.

“So we always have between 15 and 20 truck technician apprentices, which, for us, is very interesting. That’s also one of the main challenges we are going to face in the coming five to 10 years. We are almost at 100% of our capacity. We are open 24 hours a day, from Monday 6am to Saturday 1pm, and we have limited capacity with our buildings. We are looking for an opportunity to relocate our Sittingbourne depot, to make sure that we have enough capacity in the workshop to increase our revenues. We want to make sure we have the right level of services to go together with the products we are selling.”

He is also aware that it’s not just about maintaining trucks, but also providing full support for customers is all part of the service: “When you are in front of customers, you realise that not only are the products important, but so are the services you provide. You have to be right the first time, deliver on time, at a reasonable cost, and offer a full set of services. That means making sure you have the right configuration of trucks, making sure you have a proper repair and maintenance offer, and making sure you have a proper financial offer from contract hire, long-term lease, or whatever they need. You also need to make sure that you are helping your customers to finance the vehicle, that you are strong enough [financially] to do the trade, and then be able to remarket the trucks and to give them a second or third life. To do all of that you need to have a minimum size, just to amortise all the investments.”

What you need to know about RCM SAGA

Headquartered in Roche-sur-Yon between Nantes and La Rochelle on the west coast of France, RCM is an acronym of Ronan Chabot Management – the name taken from its charismatic president – while SAGA stands for Société Anonyme des Garages Amiand (Amiand is the name of the first owner that Chabot’s father bought the business in 1971). As well as running the group with activity in France, Belgium, Czechia and Switzerland, and consisting of franchises for the Toyota, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Bénéteau motorboat brands, Chabot is also a multiple Dakar Rally competitor. Currently competing as a factory driver for Toyota in the Hilux pick-up truck, Chabot has raced in 21 Dakar Rallies since 2002, managing to finish 17 of them, all of which have seen long-time navigator Gilles Pillot beside him in the cockpit.