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The search continues for late-registered trucks
Page 76
Page 77
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Hauliers wary of Euro-4 are hanging on to late-year Euro-3 trucks, forcing dealers to scrap for anything that is available. Steve Banner reports.
Dealers throughout the country are still plagued by a shortage of desirable late-registered used trucks as hauliers wary of Euro-4 continue to hold on to Euro-3 vehicles.
"We cannot find the trucks we need; it's as simple as that," says independent dealer Peter Hassan of Lympne.Kent-based Eurowise Truck and Van."We usually stock around 50, but at present we're down to three plus a trailer.
-We've looked all around the country, but all we can find is rubbish. We saw a line-up of 25 vehicles being offered for sale the other day, but only one was worth buying. Nor is there much point in bidding at auction. Everything you see there tends to be five or six years old or more.
Incentive needed
-I'm certain that a lot of other dealers are in the same boat.says Hassan."Hopefully, well be able to locate some desirable trucks over the Christmas period, but! suspect nothing will change for a while unless the government comes up with some sort of incentive to persuade operators to buy new trucks again. "Hopefully that will have a knock-on effect on the used market and kick-start it back into life."
Some dealers looking to cash in on late-plate low-mileage Euro-3 have been asking too much.says Hassan:Admittedly there's a stock shortage, but there are dealers out there who are being unrealistic." One well-known dealer, who asked not to be named. disagrees. "Dealers with the right trucks can typically charge a £2.000 premium but that's likely to be a short-lived situation, and will disappear by the end of the first quarter of next year." he says.
"By levying that sort of uplift you're not being greedy or stupid; you're simply reacting to market forces. Charging a whole heap more would probably be unwise though, and you might not get it."
The ability of dealers to ask for and get a bit more for some of their vehicles is increasing the already wide gap between book prices and the amounts customers are actually paying.
Seasonal lull
Hassan, though, is not overly depressed about Eurowise's stock situation."This year has been a really good one for us, and the stock issue isn't as big a problem as it might otherwise be because people tend not to buy vehicles at this time of year anyway" he says. "A lack of stock at least means we've got plenty of freedom to buy if we can find what we're looking for, and the new trailer salLs side of our business is going well."
Allan Hilton, responsible for used sales at the King's Lynn branch of Daf dealer Ford & Slater. agrees that the absence of stock remains a problem."There is business to be done, but many operators are hanging on to their trucks," he says. "The result is that there aren't so many desirable used vehicles around.
Hilton believes the shortage should start to ease next year. but PhitHolmes, used sales manager (easitern region) at Scania dealrship Keltruck, thinks this is al eady happening. "We're a lot rore positive about things nos after a couple of months of u certainty," he reports. -Things definitely improved in November, and that has continued into December.
"We're seeing new truck sales start to increase,and a bit of lateplate product is coming through as a consequence.Looking ahead, we've got a lot of vehicles in the pipeline due to come back to us that will be very desirable."
Matt Hammond,used vehicle sales manager at Harris Daf in ThutTock, Essex, is also seeing attractive vehicles come through.
ve had a bit of luck in that area with a number of three year-old 430hp XF Space Cab 6x2 tractor units becoming available. We've sold several of them, and another four have just turned up," he says.
"You can't always ask more money for desirable trucks, even if there is a shortage, but what you usually find is that you sell them more quickly. I'm anticipating a good start to 2007."
Time to diversify Chris H art, managing director of Blackrod,Bolton,independent dealershipTrucks 2 Go, believes one way a business can avoid being hit too hard by a dearth of stock is by involving itself in lots of different sectors.
If a dealerhsip cannot obtain used trucks then, hopefully, it will be able to get hold of second-hand vans—and if domestic demand goes flat.export sales might remain buoyant.
"We've just sold a Vauxhall Astravan, a Mercedes-Benz Vito and a 12-tonner. and we're now dealing with an inquiry from someone who wants to export six tractor units to Ghana," he says.
He also looks for slightly unusual vehicles. -For example, I've just bought 19 Mercedes Sprinter 4.6-tanners," he says. It's the sort of vehicle that a prospective purchaser can take ages to find and he willing to pay a decent price for it when he does. •