Down but
Page 38
Page 39
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
not out
Hauliers are indecisive about upgrading rolling stock as news of economic woes continues, say used truck dealers
Words: Steve Banner Dealers around the country report a lacklustre second-hand truck market, with operators reluctant to commit to replacing existing vehicles with something newer.
“There’s not a lot happening at present,” says Nigel Sharp, in charge of used vehicle activities at Daf dealership F&G Commercials. F&G runs sites at Huddersield, Barnsley and Oldham. “Everybody seems to be frightened to dip their toe in the water.” Nor is it just domestic sales that are being hit. “The export market seems to be slowing down as well,” he says. “I sometimes think that the market would improve if somebody abolished TV news. If you, as an operator, are told that the economy is suffering from a double-dip recession and the second dip is proving to be a lot deeper than people thought it was, then that’s not going to persuade you to go out and spend money.” Chris Shaw, disposals manager at Stanton, Ikestonbased used vehicle operation Q2 Trucks, which is owned by inance house Close Brothers, agrees that things have gone quiet. “I’m not sure why, but I think it’s because people have lost a lot of conidence.” Jamie McDonald, who runs independent dealership RJM Commercials at a site not far from Besthorpe in rural Norfolk, says it’s not possible to predict what’s going to happen from one week to the next. “Demand comes and goes like the wind.” Yet although the market might be bedevilled by sluggish sales and uncertainty, it is by no means completely dead.
Deluge of enquiries
Recently, McDonald acquired four Scania R620 units, 2007 on a 57-plate and built to Topline Grifin speciications, and was deluged with enquiries. “The phone went mad for three or four days,” he says.
“It’s not the sort of thing that I usually stock, but I’d already got some bottom-end and middle-of-the-road stuff so I thought I’d give them a go,” he says. Not surprisingly, he is pleased he did.
“We’re inding that 2007-registered 6x2 tractor units are attracting interest because they are among the earliest Euro-4 trucks available: and most of the enquiries we get are still about Euro-4,” says Shaw. “They allow operators to buy something that is competitively priced – you’re probably talking about from £18,000 to £22,000 or £25,000 depending on what you want – but will still get them into the London Low Emission Zone without having to pay a penalty.” If the customer can get £8,000 to £9,000 for an old truck – “they may be getting rid of something that dates back to 2005” – then the price to make the change will not be enormous. As a consequence there might be no need to take out a loan to cover it and that has to be viewed as an advantage, given that many hauliers are wary of committing themselves to inance agreements in the current economic climate.
“We’re certainly inding that we’re not getting much interest in stuff that’s registered from 2010 onwards,” says Shaw. Such vehicles are, of course, pricier than their older brethren and, as a consequence, prospective purchasers might need to take out an HP or leasing agreement.
Even 2008-registered units can be dificult to shift.
“We’ve got some on 58-plates for £32,000 apiece, but they’re proving hard to move,” he says. “Once trucks hit the £30,000 mark they seem to struggle.” There is far less of a struggle at the other end of the price spectrum. “We’re selling 2004-vintage 54-registered Daf LF45 7.5-tonners with 16ft prison van bodies on them for £3,850, and customers are coming in and paying for them using a credit or debit card,” says independent dealer Dave Higgs of Kidderminster, Worcestershire-based DH Commercials. They can either convert the body to suit their needs, or remove it – the metal content means it has a useful scrap value – and replace it with the type of body they require.
“We bought 57 of these trucks originally and we’ve got 36 left,” he adds. “We know of one buyer who has taken some and turned them into gritters.”
Competitively priced
Isn’t there the danger that customers who are aware this is the approach DH Commercials takes will hang ire until the price is signiicantly reduced?
“I suppose there’s always that risk, but we price our vehicles competitively to begin with,” says Higgs. “This means that if operators postpone their buying decisions for too long, they may miss out.
“Always remember that if your vehicles are priced sensibly, then they’ll sell,” he adds. “If they aren’t, then they won’t.”
Prison van bodies are not the only objects with scrap value. Some 10-year-old trucks exported from the UK a while ago are now being shipped back in order to be cannibalised for their parts – one way of keeping costs down in tough times, despite the expense of bringing the vehicles concerned home to die. ■
Used vans
Van buyers are proving reluctant to buy late-registered vehicles, partly because they too do not want to take out finance, but partly because there are so many mouthwatering deals on brand new light commercials. If you can get just as good a deal on a new model, then a late-plate used one suddenly becomes less appealing, says Shoreham Vehicle Auctions MD Alex Wright.
On the other hand, vans that are four years old or more and competitively priced are selling strongly, he says, because buyers can often afford to pay cash for them.
As a consequence, he is not too worried about the state of the used van market and believes that early autumn will see a healthy upswing in demand. “September should be a strong month for sales,” he contends.
DH Commercials’ Higgs is also finding that there is a healthy interest in older light commercials.
“We’ve had over 300 2005-registered ex-Tesco home delivery Mercedes-Benz 311CDIs in during the past 18 months and we’ve been selling them as chassis cabs at £2,500 each,” he says.
“The approach we take is to reduce the price of our vehicles gradually over the weeks until they sell. We like to turn over our stock quickly.”