lde speaks out on tax
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• All sectors of the road transport industry must speak up in defence of their own interests on the effect of European liberalisation on British haulage, says Richard Ide, managing director of Volkswagen Audi Group.
The UK haulier is the most heavily-taxed in Europe in vehicle excise and fuel duty, Ide has told a special 1992 conference of the Institute of the Motor Industry in a hardhitting speech_ "Let us be absolutely sure that our government does not agree to a more liberal and competitive licensing system before we have had the opportunity to harmonise the cost of road fund licences and fuel duty," he said.
Ide, director of truck manu facturer MAN-Volkswagen, insisted that the Government must make sure when it implements liberalisation that the competitive edge of Britain's haulage firms is maintained.
"The contribution from road transport towards the health of the economy is key. Our operators are the best in Europe just as we were once the best truck builders in Europe," he asserted.
Ede also scorned the Government's stalling on a 40-tonne maximum limit for lorries. The Freight Transport Association had shown that a move to 40 tonnes would save the economy £76 million a year, and present policy meant there were "glaring inequalities" between the UK and the rest of Europe, he claimed.
"On the one hand our ministers are bombarding us with puerile advice on how to compete in Europe while themselves lacking the will to agree to this single and fundamental measure of harmonisation."
He said that any European moves to take away the right of car-licence-holders to drive minibuses and vans up to 7.5tonnes would severely damage sectors of the market where British-built trucks performed very well.