Basic body for Boalloy
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• Bodybuilder Boalloy is to launch a low-cost "dealer friendly" rigid van body at the Institute of Road Transport Engineers show in May.
Dubbed The Van, it will cost £500 less than the existing 7.5Liner body which was launched back in 1985.
With a conventional aluminium underframe and body with a glass fibre roof it will be available up to 17 tonnes. The Van will not be "top of the range", says Boalloy managing director Gerald Broadbent — it is designed to take a larger share of the dealer market and in the current climate that means lower-cost/lower-spec bodies, he adds.
Boalloy has already sold 70 of the bodies to Leyland Daf and others to rental companies. Broadbent is confident of receiving orders for up to 10 a week: "We have 57 built and ready to go," he says.
The 7.5Liner has the advantage of being flexible as it is available as a curtainsider, roofer or sliding-door van, says Broadbent. But the recession has caused a slowdown in sales and only two a month are being built. Broadbent has no fears of The Van harming the company's reputation for high-quality designs: "We've carried the market for so long with slide-loading vehicles. We lost out to others on the basic vans," he says. "We're trying to harness the dealer market and bigger people like the parcels and rental companies. The Van will be priced to suit the dealer and there won't be any variations in design."
The Institute of Road Transport Engineers show will be at Telford on 9 and 10 May.