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'Everything in demand' at Manchester dealer
Page 68
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The introduction of digitachs has boosted sales of
late-registered, low-mileage quasi but not for all.
Sales of second-hand vehicles are soaring at the Middleton, Manchester, branch of Scania dealer West Pennine Trucks." In recent weeks we've been going absolutely flat out," says used truck sales manager Stuart Wolstenholme.
"We've been going after customers who might normally have bought new, but who don't want to get involved with digital tachographs," he explains. Instead, they are after late-registered, lowmileage trucks with analogue tachographs. New Euro-3 vehicles are no longer being produced, so late-registered used models will appeal to anyone who wants to avoid the price penalty of a new Euro-4 truck for some time yet.
That will also give the hauliers concerned sufficient time to assess the experiences of operators who have acquired Euro-4 (and Euro5) trucks, and work out whether SCR or EGR technology is the better bet. In some cases these digitachlEuro-4 objectors have been pointed in Wolstenholme's direction by the dealership's newvehicle sales team.
"We recently took in a dozen Q4registered R124 6x2 420Toplines, all with 200,000-260.000km recorded,"Wolstenholme reports."We've now got eight left and we've had inquiries on all of them."
But it is not just trucks like this that are exciting interest, he stresses: -We're finding tractor units with big cabs and no more than 380hp are doing well too, as are day-cab units. We've just sold the last of the day-cab units we've had in from Tesco." Rigids are moving along nicely too, he says. "Box vans usually stick at this time of year, but the 18-tonne boxes we've taken in from a well-known local rental company are attracting buyers," Wolstenholme reports."So are 18tonne eurtainsiders."
One thing he has noticed is that fewer buyers are part-exchanging their existing vehicles."In the past three weeks we've been offered only two part-exchanges," he says. "I think quite a few people must be selling them privately."
Prices are holding up, he contends, at least for later trucks. "Four, five and six-year-old vehicles have to be priced reasonably, however,or they won't sell," he remarks.
"Customers are far wiser than they used to be. Everybody knows the price of everything these days."
Like West Pennine, Manchester Daf dealer Chatfields is reporting plenty of demand for late registered tractor units, and for much the same reason as Wolstenholme gives.
"We've just bought 43 threeyear-old 6x2 XF95 430 Space Cabs, all from a high-profile operator, and they're selling well," says used sales specialist Andy Mackay.`‘Things aren't bad."
He agrees with Wolstenholme that more hauliers are disposing of their part-exchanges themselves.
But not everybody is finding business is booming as the country edges towards the holiday season."In my view it's quieter than it should be," says Tun Robinson, used sales manager at Hull MAN-ERF dealer Torridon Commercial Vehicles,"We're finding it a bit quiet at Chatfields in Leeds too," says Mackay's colleague Roy Patrick.
The Preston branch of Scania dealer Haydock Commercials is among other outlets reporting a lull in used business.