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Launches set to end tractor slump
Page 67
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• Dealers are hoping demand for new tractors will start to pick up after a disappointing couple of months. New products on the verge of being released—I veco's Stral is and Mercedes-Benz's Axor, for example—could result in a sales surge later in the year, they suggest.
its been a slow start to the year, but we've got new products coming and we believe people are waiting for them," says Bill Sangster, managing director of Iveco dealership Stormont. Were anticipating that things will improve in the autumn, but for the moment the tractor market has gone dead."
"We've noticed that things have started to quieten down a bit, but we've yet to be materially affected, and all in all our registrations have been going well," says Ron Holmes, managing director of MercedesBenz dealership S&B. "We're certainly seeing a lot of interest and anticipation being generated by Axor, and the fuel figures are proving to be quite remarkable."
"We're still going strongly on tractors, we're still quoting for business and taking orders, so perhaps we're bucking the trend," says Brian Silvey, managing director of Renault dealership Thompsons.
He's not too concerned about being swamped by an influx of exCity Premium tractors. "We've had 15 come to us, and they've all gone back out on contract at sensible rates," he says. "We've now got a further 15 waiting in our yard, and we anticipate putting them out at sensible rates too."
However, Sean Clarke, managing director of Mr Commercials, warns that the City situation will only serve to exacerbate the problem of unsold buy-backs.
"Manufacturers have still got fields full of them," he says. "I think we'd all be horrified if we knew just how many there are,"