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Buy now to beat the rush!
Page 32
Page 33
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Manufacturers are urging operators thinking of buying new vehicles to get their orders in early to cope with ever increasing lead
times. Chris Tindall investigates.
Booming eC0110111ies across Europe have forced truck manufacturers to extend lead times as far forward as 2008 for some models. Rocketing demand has led to a shortage of components for trucks and trailers with waiting times that were unforeseen at the end of 2006. As a result at least one major manufacturer will do without a summer shutdown this year.
Some industry observers believe the problem has been compounded by foreign component manufacturers understandably meeting the needs of their domestic markets before supplying the buoyant UK mark et.The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) sat down with the European trailer and bodybuilder association CLCCR at the recent CV Show to work out why demand is outstripping supply across the Continent, The SMMT's Robin Dickeson says: "The conclusion was that Western Europe is beginning to grow [economically];we see pretty good growth throughout. We've been picking this up from the beginning of the year.
"The issue is not that demand has gone berserk in the UK, although it is healthy, but partly that Continental demand has reached higher levels than before.That creates demand in factories making components. A few percentage points higher in each country has a significant effect."
Growth in Germany
Dickeson points to the growth of one country in particular:"We're probably seeing Germany beginning to reach a level that is the norm for it in the long term. Its [economy] has been low for the past four,five, even 10 years, and now it's getting back to where it is expected to be."
And the boom isn't confined to Western Europe. Trailer manufacturer Schmitz Cargo bull (SCB) describes demand from Eastern Europe over the past 12 months as -extremely high".
To some extent SCB has prepared for fluctuations in the market by pumping millions of pounds into systems to reduce build time,and by producing its own axles. Operations director Dave Sidlow says: -The biggest single issue for all trailer producers is the availability of axles. We will fit other people's axles too -customers can be very specific about what axles they want but what we've managed to do is insulate ourselves to some extent."
Although Sidlow cites Eastern Europe as a huge growth area, he adds: "All of the markets across Europe are all busy at the same time. If YOU look at trailer registrations in Germany they are up something like 20% in a year That sort of swing is mirrored in other big markets, together with Eastern Europe. It's a huge issue."
He adds that a shortage of raw materials such as aluminium, stainless steel, rubber and zinc created problems after speculators tried to make a quick buck at the beginning of the year, but demand has now eased. But did the surge in demand come as a surprise? "Certainly it wasn't predicted," says Sidlow. "We've now achieved the sales and production figures we predicted by 2009-2010."
Tony Pain,Daf's UK marketing director,sal%/s the Dutch giant was also surprised by the speed at which Europe "suddenly switched the lights on" at the beginning of the year. Now, he says, the LF is subject to a 12-week lead time, rising to 16 weeks for the CE And if you order an XF now you won't see it before October. Opt for the Super Spacecab and you'll have to wait until next year.
"It really was very odd," says Pain. "Coming into the year there was a big surge.That was after a fairly quiet six months last year,with digitachs and Euro-4 in October. It has been worse, but we've managed to increase production significantly from about July onwards. It's the first time ever our factory is not having a summer shutdown.
"But the situation is always changing," he adds. "The notional time we would like to be within is 12-14 weeks. It went out to 26 weeks but we pulled it back to 20."
Pain echoes Sidlow's remarks about growth areas: "Poland is booming, certainly for us.And Germany, which had been fairly quiet. Austria is another one: the Netherlands is also doing quite well. And there's been a huge increase in some of the Baltic states. Historically, these are not big Daf markets."
Peak demand
Renault trucks has been hit hard by spiralling lead times (CM 26 April), and Volvo says it is also working flat-out:"Our order book is at its highest level on record, due to peak demand in GB and Ireland," says commercial truck director Ian Mitchell. "Demand has also been at its height throughout mainland Europe and Volvo factories are handling record numbers of orders.
-Volvo can offer operators some availability of its new FL and FE product ranges from this September onwards. [But] for its FM and FH product ranges, availability has gone out to mid-January 2008 as of this week. We believe the situation will be similar for all our major competitors and, as there appears to be no short-term respite, we're advising operators to act quickly to secure the earliest deliveries."
Peter Rotherham of Aire Truck Bodies chairs the SMMT's CV bodybuilding division. He reports that another problem has arisen since January: "The European markets are taking preference over the UK, particularly with chassis deliveries. The majority of chassis manufacturers are based abroad. If the German market is reasonably buoyant they are going to look after the German market. For manufacturers it can be a difficult time... they have a certain demand to meet." •