Rising sales, rising prices
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Getting finance can still be an issue for some, but demand for used trucks is booming with dealers reporting rising prices.
Worcis: Steve banner Demand for second-hand trucks is booming. reveals Stuart Wolstenholme, used sales manager at the Middleton. Manchester. branch of Scania dealership West Pennine Rucks.
-Things have gone mad,he adds. "Everything seems to be selling. At one point recently, we virtually emptied our yard of stock. It's surprising given that things usually go quiet in an election year. until the general election is out of the way, hut that doesn't seem to be the case this time around."
Andy Mackay. Manchester-based used sales specialist at DAF and Iveco dealer Chatfields. says: "Business is better than I thought it would be; and there are undoubtedly sales to be had."
Jonathan Bownes, sales executive at Volvo dealership 'Thomas Hardie's Middlewich. Cheshire, used truck centre.
which is about to launch a new website, backs up that observation:"The market is buoyant and people arc in search of decent kit, with big cabs, big horsepower and high specifications."
Can operators fund the vehicles they arc after?
"In our experience, the only people who arc finding it really difficult to obtain finance are hauliers from the Republic of Ireland," Bovines replies. "That's unfortunate from our viewpoint, because they represent quite a significant chunk of our business."
Rising prices
The current situation stands in marked contrast with the first three weeks of January, reveals Wolstenholme. when bitter winter weather caused businesses to come to a grinding and unproductive halt.
"We had trucks with snow up to their headlamps, and we were kept busy digging them out," he recalls.
However, it's not only tractor units that are selling as the market picks up.
"We're getting a lot of interest from the construction industry in everything from 7.5-tonne tippers to eightwheelers." says Matt Hammond, used vehicle sales manager at West Thurrock. Essex, dealership Harris DAF. "It's partly the consequence of the work being done to widen the M25."
Not surprisingly, rising sales arc pushing up prices.
"A 56-plate 6x2 High line tractor unit now costs £2,000 more than a 55-plate 6x2 Highline would have done this time last year." Wolstenholme says.
While that is not a dramatic increase, it is certainly an indication that prices are heading upwards.
"Prices are certainly being driven hack up, but don't forget that they've been unnaturally low for the past 12 months," says Bovines. So what's driving the upswing? "Pent-up demand." Wolstenholme succinctly states, adding: "Given the economic climate, people have hung on to their existing trucks for longer than usual and are now finding that they have got to replace them."
"In many cases they've bought nothing for two years, so they need to do something," offers Mackay. The older a vehicle gets, the more unreliable it is likely to become, and the less it will be worth second-hand.
Changing vehicles
Tony Bevan. general manager. sales, for MAN'sTopUsed approved used trucks programme. believes: "Operators seem to be saying that they have no choice but to change their vehicles, never mind what's happening with the economy. because they've run them on for so long.
"As a consequence, we're getting plenty of enquiries. and anything up to two years old is selling quickly and making good money" Not that operators are prepared to splash huge amounts of cash around, though, says Mackay.
"There's a market for anything priced at up to £30.000. but if it's much more expensive than that. you'll struggle to sell it," he warns. m