VED doubts hit new truck sale
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Talk of recession has yet to cause a major collapse in new truck sales but the uncertainty over VED and 40/41 tonnes is prompting some hauliers to keep their cheque books in their pockets. "Used trucks are going very well, but the new side has gone very quiet," says Stuart Thornton, sales manager at Leyland Daf dealership North West Trucks. "Causing all this uncertainty over VED is about the worst thing the Government could do to our industry" Matters aren't helped by the long wait for 95XF deliveries. "We're talking 20 weeks now, but at least that's down from the 25 weeks we were quoting earlier in the year," he says. Volvo distributor Crossroads repc rising number of inquiries about trucks, thanks to the new FM. "V getting a lot of interest from hauliers don't currently operate Volvos," group sales director Bob Auckland. Volvo Truck & Bus South's manc director, Alistair Robinson, also rep( steady stream of inquiries about the He's predicting a decline in registrc above 17 tonnes, from a proje 26,500/27,000 this year to 25,0( 1999. "It's not a precipitous though, and we hope it will be a landing," be concludes.