Q-Service Truck on an international track

The Q-Service Truck chain, which has been operating for more than 20 years, is a prestige for the garages associated in it. For this reason, only garages that meet top standards and provide comprehensive and high-quality services to their customers are members of the chain.

- Our garages are multi-brand and this is our great advantage. They can service practically all commercial vehicles, also in the segment of industrial machines, buses or vehicles from the agricultural market - says Sylwia Wysocka, Manager of the Q-Service Truck network. We are aware that in order to grow we have to open up to international markets. At present, our garages outside Poland can be found in the Baltic States and several countries in southern Europe. Soon we will be present in most of the countries where Inter Cars SA operates, and ultimately we want to be a part of garage activities all over Europe.

The international nature of the Q-Service Truck project is best illustrated by the recent chain meeting, which took place at the beginning of November in Krakow, Poland. This year, the focus was on internationality, so the meeting was also attended by representatives of chain garages from, among others, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Lithuania. In addition, we also had the pleasure to host representatives from countries who will join the large international Q-Service Truck family in the near future. In the truck industry, where international transport has no borders - it is extremely important for chain garages to cooperate in order to be able to assist each other in serving customers on international routes.

- No geographical limitations for the services provided is one of the biggest challenges facing our chain in the coming years. We have the potential to compete effectively on the European market and we want to implement the solutions proven in Poland in an international environment - adds Sławomir Rybarczyk, President of the Management Board of Q-Service Truck and Sales Director at Inter Cars Poland. We encourage garages associated within our structures to participate in the fleet concept and effectively compete for OE garages customers throughout Europe. Under the brand name of Q-Service Truck, we can guarantee top standard of service in each chain garage, comprehensiveness of provided services and support of the market leader, Inter Cars.

In order to compete successfully on the international market, the support of parts manufacturers is also important. During the meeting in Kraków, Maciej Oleksowicz, President of the Management Board of Inter Cars, and Sławomir Rybarczyk presented the big five suppliers, who will support the development of Q-Service Truck throughout Europe in the next three years. These manufacturers will become a bridge in the transfer of knowledge and experience directly to garages, helping them to develop even faster and more comprehensively and to serve their customers more effectively.

For the period of 2022-2025, the network's strategic partners are: Bosch, Castrol, Mann Hummel, Prometeon and ZF Aftermarket. The wide range of services provided and the experience of suppliers specialising in different market segments guarantee that chain garages will receive knowledge and support that until now could only be expected from manufacturer-authorised service centres.

- The conference in Krakow is a great opportunity to introduce Q-Service Truck partners or future chain affiliates to all the benefits of cooperation with ZF and Inter Cars said Tomasz Mierzejewski, Key Account Director at ZF Automotive Systems Poland - We want to be close to the garages, support them in their daily development and together create solutions that will help them better prepare for the changes in the industry, that we have to face practically all the time.

Paweł Borowski, Sales Manager at Bosch Garage Equipment, also shared similar observations after the Krakow meeting:

- Together with Inter Cars, we support the development of repair garages associated in Q-Service Truck by offering, among others, our KTS Truck device for servicing trucks, buses, agricultural and construction machines. Of course, we also offer the network garages access to knowledge through an extensive training package and product promotions. As Bosch, we always support initiatives to develop the independent automotive market .

- We are experienced in network concepts implemented together with Inter Cars, as for several years we have been creating the Q Service Castrol chain - announced Leszek Radzikowski, Castrol Sales Director for Eastern and Central Europe, just after announcing the "big five partners" of the Q-Service Truck network - Being a leading partner of the chain of garages specialising in truck repairs gives us not only the possibility to reach new customers, but, above all, the chance to listen to their voice and jointly develop the aftermarket in this segment. Together with the other chain partners, we are in complete agreement on the direction in which the organisation should develop. We want it to grow even faster than the market.

Adam Gryczka, Sales Manager at MANN+HUMMEL, also spoke about support for the independent truck garage market: - By joining the chain, we want to offer repairers, above all, direct access to product innovations and the opportunity to participate in technical trainings, but the most important thing we offer our garage partners is peace of mind and safety of use of our filters. MANN+HUMMEL's experience is based on more than 70 years of history, verified by quality, reliability and the highest level of customer support.

- Together with Inter Cars, we want to take independent truck garages to the next level. As part of the development of the chain concept, we want to help them develop their offer in the tyre segment. As the market is constantly changing, we believe that this cooperation will make good business sense and will bring real benefits to both garages and their customers – said Luca Frangi, CEO East Europe w Prometeon Tyre Group.

The market of independent garages is growing rapidly throughout Europe, with more and more of them grouped together in garage networks. Being part of such an organisation ensures that a garage is not left on its own in difficult times, and during an economic boom, it has much greater scope to increase the range of competencies of the services it offers and to develop its own mechanics, which is directly linked to winning new customers.

Another challenge for the industry is the ever-changing trends, such as the attempt to move away from internal combustion engines to electric and hydrogen vehicles, or digitisation, which is proceeding at great pace. In the next decade, the aftermarket will be a subject to a difficult test and only the strongest players will emerge victorious, those who can adapt to change and have a strong partner to support them in difficult times. The power is in networking and, though it may sound trivial, it is the opportunity for growth and the relationships with other garages that drive Q-Service Truck.

- We are very pleased to be able to reunite all members of the Q-Service Truck network. Encouragingly, this tradition has lasted for more than 20 years and has allowed us to establish not only good relations in business, but also on a social level. We support each other, we help each other, we solve the most difficult technical problems together, and together we develop and improve our competences - summarised Dariusz Krupa from Truck Partner - I encourage all truck repair centres to join the Q-Service Truck chain. This concept provides an opportunity for development on a scale that a garage operating on its own can only dream of.

The friendships that have been forged between chain members for over two decades were also mentioned by Paweł Ciok from NSC Truck, who spoke at the chain meeting: - 'Thanks to the network, we have developed each other, we have overcome the difficulties that arose at the beginning of our journey together, because although we initially held mistrust and reluctance to share knowledge with each other, we soon realised that we can achieve much more in a group, and that the exchange of experience serves the development of us all. It is not worth knocking down open doors, it is better to help each other - that is the motto we have been following at Q-Service Truck for many years, because if you help someone today, that person can help you tomorrow.

Marek Józefiak from PW Adams speaks in a similar way - The strength of the network is the interpersonal relations, so we are happy to meet our colleagues from other countries, as it gives us a chance to create a bond that will bear fruit in the years to come. This is a unique opportunity to be in the truck repair business on a global scale..

And the scale of Q-Service Truck's global development is impressive! There are already more than 200 truck repair centres in the chain, and ultimately the brand wants to become a recognisable and visible brand throughout Europe. - Next year we plan to open up to the Bosnian, Croatian, Slovenian, Estonian, Serbian and Greek markets - announced Sylwia Wysocka - Of course, this is not the end, ultimately we want to be present throughout the whole Europe, we plan to develop the chain along all the major transport routes. .

The development of the chain is to be supported by a coherent and uniform identification of Q-Service Truck throughout Europe. During the meeting in Kraków, the new logo was presented in a refreshed version: it features fresher main colours (blue, green and orange), a new font, while the symbols of a spanner and a nut, as well as the letter Q were modified. The new branding is intended to set new trends, consistent across all chain garages in the Old Continent.

- Q-Service Truck is first and foremost a three-way partnership: of garages, strategic partners and, of course, Inter Cars, which has created the whole concept and has been looking after it for more than 20 years. These two decades have been characterised by constant development, striving to improve all possible processes and continuous learning. The result of this development is that Q-Service Truck has sailed into wide international waters. We are convinced that, together with our partners, we will reach our goal and in the near future become the largest independent truck garage chain in Europe, offering fleet repairs.
Together we create, support and deliver! - concluded Sławomir Rybarczyk.