Book early to avoid disappointment
Page 18
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
IIts less than four months until Euro-6 arrives, warns Rael Winetroube, MAN Truck & Bus UK TopUsed sales director. What are you going to do?
Euro-6 is just a few weeks away, but many operators still think tales of increased costs are spoofs by manufacturers. People think this is about price, but it isn't. At its heart, it's about cost. Manufacturers have spent €10bn (£8.5bn) on development work and those costs have to be recovered. Operators who think they can leave things late, then do a deal that lets them stand still on price, are wrong.
There are historical parallels with the introduction of London's Low Emission Zone, when so many operators left it too late to respond. Euro-6 will change the landscape, having a greater effect. Manufacturers are already past the Euro-5 order cut-off, and vehicles for derogation are few and far between. The obvious solution for operators who might have left it late are good-quality, late Euro-5 trucks. But the market is already
quickening, and not just because of Euro-6. The whole economy is showing signs of slow recovery. Construction is busy, the Bank of England has sent clear signs on holding interest rates and the Purchasing Managers' Index is on the rise. With Euro-6 looking costly and adding greater technology, Euro-5 offers cheaper trucks, less
technology and, with MAN, no AdBlue: the pressure is on right now and building. Underlying this is that since 2008, when the recession began, new truck volumes have decreased. That's OK while demand is flat, but, as it picks up, pressure on used truck supply
increases — and you can't just manufacture good-quality used vehicles.
If I was an operator, I'd be planning right now — and acting on it. As the holiday companies used to say: book early to avoid disappointment.