Sometimes on Saturday
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• Saturday auctions are having an impact, but although operators are attending, they're not purchasing trucks in huge numbers says Duncan Ward, business development manager, commercial vehicles, at British Car Auctions.
"End-users have yet to make their mark as buyers," he suggests. "More often than not they treat such sales as a toe-in-the-water exercise and come along to see what goes on. As a way of getting a snapshot of market demand it's a good investment of their time, and they help keep interest high. Many of them subsequently attend our regular mid-week sales."
Ward finds that the market is unpredictable at present, with pockets of demand suddenly surfacing
1=1 when professional buyers buy to
order. "For example," he says, "the export market for Mercedes-Benz 1820 rigids with day cabs and any type of body has become very buoy ant, with the buyers servicing this marketplace bidding strongly."
He is not seeing much demand for trucks suitable for replating at 44 tonnes, but says there is a lot of interest in vehicles with Reduced Pollution Certificates (RECs): "They focus the buyers' minds because they lead to a substantial reduction in Vehicle Excise Duty.
"An older vehicle that has been certified through modification will attract a lot more interest than one that hasn't."