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Winners and losers
Page 22
Page 23
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Who sold the most CVs last year, and how will the
market perform in 2007? Louise Cole runs her eye
over the end-of-year sales figures and talks to the manufacturers a pout their hopes and fears.
iiA year of uncertainty, upheaval and bewil derment" is how Chris Thorneycroft-Smith, managing director of Iveco UK, described 2006at the company'sannual`State of the Nation' presentation. He suggested that vehicle buyers had been confused by the vacillation of legislators and the conflicting claims of manufacturers.
Digital tachographs, which hovered on the horizon for months before suddenly appearing directly in our path, are an issue the industry is still grappling with, said Thomeycroft-Smith: "Eight months after implementation only 20% of drivers have the requisite cards.Operators are having to draft agency drivers to drive new trucks because their own drivers are reluctant to get cards.Why isn't the government screaming from the rooftops about the need for card take-up—and inc,entivising it?"
There are still 395,000 drivers without smart cards, a situation operators are only now starting to address adequately. But they were less hesitant about buying new trucks prior to the April deadline for digital tachographs — demand more than doubled to almost 11,000 vehicles.
A less dramatic spike was recorded during the run up to Euro4, with an extra 2,000 trucks being sold in September. But this was matched by a slump after Euro-4 arrived as sales fell by up 10 25%.
Demand in 2007 is likely to be bolstered by a strong economy,with the Chancellor predicting growth of up to 3%. But the dominant service sector is identified as a major factor in breaking the link between economic buoyancy and road transport demand — so transport is unlikely to grow hand in hand with the economy.
Sales could also be hit by the recent fuel duty increase, expected to cost the industry i170m.
Thorneycroft-Smith said the market is still driven by fleets, with vans bought and sold as shortterm commodities. Manufacturers force the pace by pushing vehicles through and spot rental is becoming almost a thing of the past. Contract-hire remains the most compelling option for most operators, with vehicle finance brokers also providing "a useful low-cost key to the market".
This year will be no less challengi ng than 2006.Thorneycroft-Smith predicted another downturn in the market; then there's mirror legislation, speed limiters in vans, on-board diagnostics stage 2 for Euro-4 and torque reduction...
So which manufacturers were winners and which sinners in 2007?
2.8-6.5 tonnes
As ever Ford was the clear victor in this sector, pulling slightly further ahead of the rest of the pack. M-B dropped to third place behind VVV, while Iveco's market share fell by 10%.
As ever, there is a tension between those prepared to offer very low margin fleet deals and those (like Iveco) who claim profitability must rule. Whose strategy will prove more sustainable remains to be seen. Iveco blames this on a strategy of a voiding low-margin volume deals and emphasising profitability; time will tell whether this is sustainable in the long run.
LDV's Maxus has already dropped back 5%, de.spite being a relatively new product However, the van market overall is the biggest ever, accounting for 145,000 units. The one-tonne market is particularly buoyant with a surge of consumer interest and 65,000 sales —up 2.1% on last year. The Transit andTransporter were clear winners.
There was a fall in demand for vans from 3.51 to 6.5 tonnes, with even Ford taking a 14% downturn. Iveco was down by 23.5 % and M-B by 20% as the sector contracted to just 5,710 vehicles.
3.5 tonnes plus
The 2006 truck market contracted by 5.6% overall to 55,574 vehicles, with even Daf shuddering slightly at the top of the chain. However, Daf is quick to point out that it is still market leader in every category by a bigger margin than before and that any contraction belongs to the marketplace as a whole.
M-B's sales were down 10% to 9,400, while lveco's fell 18.5%. On the other hand MAN made strong gains thanks to the TGL and TGM, while Hino enjoyed a surge in demand as it drove into Foden and Seddon Atkinson's tyre tracks. Hino only shifted 307 trucks, but that represented a whopping 1,295% increase on last year.
Two-axle rigids
The CF and LF still lead the way in 7.5-tonners with almost 4,000 sales and a 32% market sharelbe Eurocargo held second place with more than 2,500 sales and a 22% share, with M-B third. Of the top three Iveco took the biggest hit compared with 2005.
The 12-15-tonne sector was up 11% overall — a rare gleam of light for the manufacturers — but it was doom and gloom among the 18tonners as sales dropped below 7,000 units for the first time in nine years. Iveco made an impressive gain here with a 9.7% jump in volume, higher even than the 7.9% gain made by sector leader Daf. Volvo and MAN both took a battering, with sales falling 38.5% and 19% respectively. ChrisThomeycroftSmith says: "Iveco had an excellent year in 18-tonners... [with Eurocargol we outperformed every other manufacturer in the sector.
Daf also had a good year cementing its market leadership."
Multi-axle rigids
Daf was once again a clear leader, boosting sales by more than 30%, and Scania did well to creep ahead of Volvo with a 17% market share. M-B and MAN both boosted sales by more than 20%, while Iveco's sales shrank by 36 units—a 10% decrease. Hino's gain was at the expense of Seddon and Foden, in an extremely narrow but nonetheless impressive victory.
At 26 tonnes, behind the seemingly inevitable gains by Daf, M-B pulled in an extra 18"/0, while Scania and Dennis made small increases and MAN lifted itself into sixth place with 25% growth. However, Volvo, Iveco, Seddon, Renault, Foden and ERF were all deep in retreat.The market overall was slightly bigger than last year at 5,407 units.
Among the eight-leggers Daf once again increased its sales by more than 30% to take a 30.5% share — but this time it had Volvo close on its heels with a 27% increase, and Scania holding steady not far behind.
Hino has once again made a dent; by selling just 274 units it roared out of obscurity with a glorious 1,612% rise. M-B added 50 units to its usually minimal offering, a 60% jump, and Iveco more than doubled its sales from 36 units to 80. The market itself grew by 21.6% to almost 4,000 vehicles.
Tractors
This sector contracted by 6.3%, with the grief being felt by Daf (still market leader but with sales down by 15.3%); Volvo (in third place with a 5% fall); and M-B (down to fourth place after a 13.8% slide). MAN flourished with a 42.5"/0 increase and Renault also turned up the heat with a 14.5% gain.
Daf retained its lead among the two-axle tractors despite a 19% fall in sales—everyone in this sector took a hit apart from MAN,whose 120% gain put it fifth. M-B was second with a 22% share; Scania and Volvo were within five units of each other at third and fourth respectively.
Three-axle tractors held a little steadier than the rest of the tractor sector with a 1.4% slide. Daf lost some ground at the top while staying ahead of Scania and Volvo which boosted sales by 5.9% and 6.5% respectively. MAN and Renault also made progress, with the latter boosting its 2005 tally of 729 units by more than 25%.
Renault marketing manager Bruce Allison says: "We're seeing strong signs of a pick up in this market as customers are already making enquiries and placing orders to buy Euro-4 and Euro-5 vehicles.As far as RenaultTrucks is concerned this is obviously strongly influenced by the exceptionally positive reaction and demand for the new Premium." •