AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

P RECESSION

5th February 2009
Page 10
Page 10, 5th February 2009 — P RECESSION
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Falling exchange rates add to UK truck industry woes

By Ian Tonki: UK TRUCK prices are set to climb as the pound continues to weaken against the euro and Japanese yen.

Penny Randall, marketing and communications manager at Renault Trucks, insists: "Certainly the sharp drop in the value of the pound has affected us. Owing to this we will be implementing an incremental price increase at the end of January on our heavy trucks."

DAF is in the same predicament and Ray Ashworth, in-coming chief executive officer of DAF UK, says: -DAF assembles its vehicles in the UK, however, the majority of parts are manufactured in Europe. We've seen a 20% adverse swing in the currency, so we need to increase our prices by around 7% next month (February)."

Ashworth adds that in the past, DAF has raised its prices due to currency fluctuations, but points out that the exchange rate has "never been as drastic" as it is now.

Des Evans, MAN CEO, says: "The impact of the pound/euro exchange rate on the landed cost of our MAN vehicles is significant, and will certainly result in price increases and inflationary pressure on the cost of all imported capital goods" However, not all European manufacturers are upping their prices. Mercedes-Benz and Iveco have stated that their existing price structure will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

Tags


comments powered by Disqus