Fox warns of more closures
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• Up to three more European truck production plants will be closed by the 1990s as part of the restructuring of the industry, warns Alan Fox, Iveco Ford's commercial director.
Fox predicts that Mercedes-Benz will need to rationalise its fixed costs, that Volvo and Scania will again explore linking their activities, and that the Spanish truck manufacturers will face increasing competition as their home market opens up to outside competition.
These changes may well be accentuated by increasing competition from both the Eastern Bloc and the Far East, says Fox, who warns that the current strength of the Yen is unlikely to go on forever and that Japanese manufacturers remain a major threat.
European manufacturers must export to compete, says Fox. He sees particularly strong opportunities in developing countries, providing an outlet for much of Europe's spare truck building capacity: "It is significant that the brunt of the recession in the truck industry has been borne in Britain," says Fox. "We had too strong a pound for too long a time. If the
O Britain had a £515.8 million trade deficit in CVs last year as exports fell to 22,000 vehicles, worth £332.3 million, and imports grew to around 56,000 vehicles, worth 2848.1 million.