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Playing it safe
Page 59
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FEW .1.N THE truck trade have the money to spend to accumulate at the moment, and dealers are refusing point blank to invest in pricey vehicles unless there is a guaranteed sale in place.
George Alexander, editor of Glass's Guide, says the process quickly becomes a case of tracking down the right truck required and then competing with rival dealers who have also got wind of the same opportunity.
-Since the customer is unlikely to be feeling overly generous, the deal will be tight. However, it is a deal, and in the current marketplace, that could represent the difference between survival and going under," he explains.
At auction, dealers are beginning to show interest, but they are not getting drawn on late-year heavy stock.
"Few are willing to speculatively take on any avoidable financial risk at what is a time of flux. Survival is their strategy," adds Alexander.
A year ago, he reports, quality lots such as 2007-registered Volvo FH13.480 6x2 tractor units would have attracted bids above £40,000, but that has fallen away, with E35,000 the best recorded offer in recent times.
"Until the current economic situation has been shown to have bottomed-out, confidence will be in short supply," he says. "And nearly all dealers have done what they can to thin out their stock levels to reduce the risk to their businesses." •