No joy in 41 tonnes
Page 64
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The crisis in UK manufacturing and confusion over 41 tonnes is breeding gloom among truck dealers worried about the prospects for the coming months.
"There's a lot of pessimism out there, and people simply don't know what to do about 41 tonnes," says Alan Stonier, sales manager at Stoke-on-Trent ERF dealership Beech's Garage. "And the used market is dead; we're not getting the inquiries. "A lot of businesses in the Potteries employing 50 to 150 people are shutting," he continues. They may not make the headlines nationally, he says, but they add up to a lot of lost jobs. "It's very difficult; very tough," he says. "The area has been losing businesses hand over fist, and nobody seems to notice." That said, Stonier predicts he will hit his sales target this year, and possibly exceed it: 'We've got quite a few quotes bubbling, and we'll get the business when the industry can get a decision on 41 tonnes and Vehicle Excise Duty." Beech's also sells Tates and Isuzu trucks. Stonier believes Tatas should be doing better, but he's pleased with the performance of the Isuzus. "We sold 13 Isuzus in August, and seven of them were 7.5-tanners," he says. Malcolm Drury, general sales manager al. • Br;ghouse, West Yorkshire, ERF dealership
, Reliance, agrees that there is indecis.ipn,amohg'' truck buyers over what to do about 41 tonnes and. likelyNEL5 rates. "That and the recession are starting to affect the new truck market, and the used", market is very poor and depres's1 . too,','. hetsays:'
He predicts that among those who will benefit from 41 tonnes will be engineers who specialise in stretching chassis and adding extra axles. He suggests that their prices will rise, and adds that they may not have the capacity to cope with likely demand.
Sandy Young, managing director of Kentbased Renault dealership KTS Trucks, and chairman of the Renault dealer council, reports that many hauliers are less confident about committing themselves to acquiring vehicles than they were. "And there is no doubt that there is uncertainly over what action to take over 41 tonnes," he says.
Mike Mudie, a director of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire based Mercedes-Benz dealership Mudie-Bond, and chairman of the Retail Motor Industry Federation's National Truck Council, doesn't believe there is any need to press the panic button yet: "I'm not in panic or depression mode, although I do see the new truck market slowing up," he says. 'The order take is not very brisk, although having said that we've sold out of Ategos until the new year. "The used market is absolutely awful, though— extremely poor—and I see no sign of an improvement until we see an end to all these over-optimistic buy-back deals."