Caution from lveco Ford
Page 10
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• Neu) Ford says it will not chase market share at the expense of profitability, and it has attacked competitors who appear to be engaged in "suicidal trading".
At the company's annual "State of the Nation" presentation, marketing support director Chris Thorneycroft-Smith defended lveco Ford's performance in 1999, stating that its priority is "orderly marketing'.
"Let's make one thing quite clear," he said. "There is no money in manufacturing trucks these days. Today's margins come from providing added value services." Iveco Ford lost market share in 1999, as did market leader Daf Trucks (formerly Leyland Daf). However, new models helped Volvo and Mercedes-Benz boost their sales figures.
lveco Ford and Daf both underestimated the size of the UK truck market in 1999 as the economy rallied. lveco Ford predicts the market over 3.5 tonnes in 2000 will be 49,550 units, down 4.3% on last year. Daf predicts sales of 48,00053,000, but it adds that "depending on Government policy this could be conservative."
• For details of truck sales In 1999 see page 22.