Power-steered Midi shortage
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• Customers are being forced to wait for up to four months for an apparently standard powered steering option on the Bedford Midi van.
The Midi's makers, IBC, deny there are any manufacturing problems but a hefty order from Thorn EMI for several hundred powered steering Midis seems to have drained the supply line for other customers. One reader has told Commercial Motor that several IBC dealers in Manchester refused to take his order, and those who did make an effort found that power-steered Midis cannot be supplied for at least four months.
Bedford admits: "Powered steering has not been seen as a necessary option, althought it is popular on the Continent". It believes that a forthcoming 4x4 model may increase demand for powered steering.
It may be that demand has been kept artificially low by impossibly long lead times. A major Bedford van dealership says that business customers tend to settle for second choice because they simply cannot afford to wait months for delivery. "Commercial customers will automatically take what's immediately available if they are looking for a working vehicle," says one salesman.