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Winners and losers

2nd September 2004
Page 30
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Page 30, 2nd September 2004 — Winners and losers
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

The UK truck market still prospers, and pundits reckon it might be

even stronger but for production constraints in mainland Europe.

As we move towards the end of the third quarter of the year, the UK truck market above 3.5 tonnes shows no sign of faltering, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers andTraders (SMMT). Figures released to the end of July show the market is virtually identical to the same period last year, with a little over 32,000 registrations recorded. Indeed, according to many industry experts, demand is so strong for new trucks, were it not for production restraints on main land Europe the market would be even higher. We reported earlier this year on the lengthening lead times for truck deliveries in the UK. As the major European markets, particularly Germany, began to emerge from recession this spring the factories were caught short of capacity. While the European truck builders have moved to reduce these as quickly as possible, many makers continue to report delays of 20 weeks or more from order to delivery.This would appear to be restricting potential market growth, though it may also be serving to stabilise the market, particularly against a backdrop of economic uncertaintyand rapidly rising oil prices Who's doing what?

Daf continues to lead the market in every sector bar 7.5-tonners and takes top position overall with a 22.2°/ share of the total 3.5t-plus truck sector.To the end of July it had registered more than 7,000 trucks and appears to be on course for a record year once again. Fellow Paccar company Foden is having less success and has seen sales tumble in the first seven months of the year compared with 2003, with lack of government grant money for its innovative gas truck project cited as one reason for the low sales. There is some light on the horizon for Foden, th ough, as the company has just secured another 100-truck order from supermarket giant Morrisons.

Iveco has seen its market position slide over the past six years as the company has pursued a policy of profit over market share.Traditionally strong in the light and medium sectors, this is borne out by the latest figures, where the Italian truck firm retains market leadership in the 7.5tonne sector thanks to some big orders from the rental and contract hire sector. It does,however, continue to struggle in the heavy truck market. Despite an all-new product it is still failing to make a breakthrough in the booming tractor market.

The reverse is true for MercedesBenz, which now sits second in the overall market. Most of its success appears to be from the heavy end of A Mercedes Actros and the market, where Axor have a strong following its recently revised Actros and Axor models continue to build a strong following. Heavily revised versions of the Atego and Axor are due for launch at Hanover next month.

Outside the top three. both Swedish truck builders have dropped market share. Scania's shift to a new model range could be one reason for a slide in the share. But we'd expect to see an upturn in fortunes this autumn as the factories hit full speed on production of the new P-. Rand T-Series.Volvo's slide is less obvious. The company is currently taking its lowest UK market share for more than 10 years and the FM and FH are now well established. We can only surmise production is constraining the company.

MAN-ERF's performance is fairly static compared with 12 months ago. A slight dip in MAN registrations is supplemented by a near 10% rise in fortunes for ERE although the ERF brand will do well to hit 1,500 units for the year. Of the remainder, Renault Trucks is going particularly well with registrations up more than 10% on the same period last year. •


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