Optimistic New Ford
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• Despite the depressed market conditions which caused it to drop out of next month's Birmingham Motor Show, Eveco Ford remains confident about its prospects for growth in the UK.
With sales of tractive units and multi-wheelers particularly hard-hit this year, the company has benefited from its weakness in the heavyweight sector. As leader in the stronger sub-17-tonne market, Iveco Ford has been better placed to cope with the downturn than several competitors reliant on heavy truck sales.
Other factors affecting the company's performance over the past six months include problems caused by the loss of production from the strike at Langley and by the depressed state of the spot rental market. More positive signs came from the introduction of the revised TurboDaily van, and from some MoD orders, Commercial operations director Alan Fox commented last week that the dispute at Langley "dragged on longer than we had anticipated". He added that the strike cost the company around 1,000 units, though with production having recommenced, he claimed the main penalty (given the weakened market) had been the loss of bodybuilder slots.
Looking at the market in more detail, merchandising manager Chris Christianson commented that Iveco Ford's main difficulty in the sectors from 3.5 to 17 tonnes arose because "the spot rental market has taken a dive"; while the sector as a whole was down 20%, Christianson estimated that spot rental purchases were 40% down.
The relaunch of the TurboDaily in the 4.5-5.0 tonne market, however, has helped compensate for this fall, with the PSV sector proving a receptive market. Iveco Ford is hoping the 4x4 TurboDaily will further improve its position, now that supplies of that vehicle are becoming available.