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End of the line for ERF
Page 20
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8%nother British truck brand looks set to slide off the scale next
3ctober as the axe falls on ERE It also means the end for
Zummins-powered trucks in the UK. Andy Salter reports.
The ERF badge on new trucks is likely to all hut disappear from the UK truck market text October, according to MANERE MD Des Evans. Cummins las been unable to offer a Euro4 !ngine. so. he points out, there is ittle to differentiate an ERF from in MAN.
Evans was speaking at the .ecent UK dealer sales conference there he received the Internaional Truck of the Year 2006 rophy for the MAN TUE from 7.11 editor and Truck of the Year .hairman Andy Salter.
'ailing sales RF registrations have dwindled o their lowest-ever levels, with Aimmins power now accounting or only a tiny proportion. The 'iability of retaining both brands m the UK market is questionable. Figures from the Society of vlotor Manufacturers andRaders ell their own story. October's egistration figures show ERF old just 49 trucks in that month. :ompared with 113 in October '.004; that represents a fall of 56%. Me year-to-date figures are :qually bleak: so far this year, ERF ias sold 608 trucks compared with ,112 to this point in 2004 — a fall of 6%. Its overall market share has talved from 2.39% in 2004 to .23% this year.
Ever since ERF was bought by dAN and the accounting black tole was subsequently discovered, he writing has been on the wall for he former UK-owned marque. ['he drive for increased economies )f scale and more profitable truck production led to the closure of the purpose-built ERF factory at M iddlewich and the gradual loss of unique ERE features as MAN and ERE products converged.
ERF will join fellow former Cheshire truck builder Foden, due to cease production some time next year. in the skip of onceproud UK truck brands, leaving only Seddon Atkinson and Dennis Eagle to keep the UK flag flying though the former is little more than a re-badged Iyeco and looks equally vulnerable to ERF's fate. Evans did offer some possibility of the ERF brand surviving on a small scale in the tanker market: Our ERE ECT, heavily adapted for 1.:K tanker operations, is a strong player in the market. With the amount of modification we do to the chassis to make it suitable tor this sector, it's also quite different from an MANTGA product.
"Nothing is decided yet. but we're considering the options."
• See page 40 for our test of the ERF ECU, which is likely to be the last ERF we eVer test.