Informed sources
Page 29
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
It must have been all that forecasting by the captains of our industry in our December 30 issue that set me off crystal ball gazing. It was hazy at first, then I consulted the stars; still there was no clear picture of the future, so finally I spoke to a couple of fellows in the know. So that's how the horoscope experts do it!
Anyway, my sources tell me that the industry's concern over noise and fuel conservation will begin to pay off this year. -Shortly we can expect an announcement on a fuel-saving quieter vehicle." That's what they say.
Later in the year we will see the emergence of three new 16-tonners, I'm told — oh, I hope my sources are well informed. By the end of the year bus builders will be getting a wee bit concerned that their double-decker sales are not what they had hoped for pending the emergence of the articulated bus.
Still on the manufacturing front, the UK will produce 400,000 commercial vehicles, export 200,000 of them and import about 40,000.
The construction industry will get a boost and the dump-truck manufacturers will enjoy a sales increase.
Japanese light vehicles will become the major threat to all light vehicle manufacturers. Sorry, that's it: the clouds have now covered the stars and my crystal, and my "informed sourceshave temporarily dried up.