Bodybuilders face lean future
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A 40 PER CENT cut back in orders for commercial vehicles is being experienced by Britain's vehicle bodybuilders. This was said at the annual conference of the Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association by Mr Bob Cocker, of Cockers of Southport Ltd. A number of bodybuilding companies had ceased trading and others were facing collapse, he said.
Other companies, said Mr Cocker, were only keeping going by refurbishing existing vehicles. The bodybuilding industry needed to press chassis makers to show much more concern in designing their vehicles to suit the bodies.
"The transport industry well knows the problems of unnecessary costs that can arise when chassis equipment is located in such a way that difficulties occur in trying to mount the body in a proper way," said Mr Cocker.
Some manufacturers expressed surprise that bodybuilders want to bother, he said, and the marked loss of sales of one leading manufacturer was due in part to its disinclination to co-operate with bodybuilders.