Page 30 - ITUK Press Cuttings March & April 2017
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12 TRANSPORT NEWS NIAY 2017
D[] llominatesI Posiliue Snifl
After two years atop the tartan truckleague,
Mercedes-Benz slips to second after DAF posted a
storming 72 months of sales during 2076.
John Henderson delivers his annual take on the
transport buying trends north of the border.
ESPITE the last six months of 2016 as well as new customers. It reflects the capacities in the existing truck network.
performance of our vehicle range and of
being dominated by uncertainty the people we have in the network, who Scotland has a 50 year attraction to those
are working hard on behalf of those DAF super Swedes from just across the North
surrounding Brexit, the Scottish Sea and Scania posted a solid third place
truck sales market boomed with a total operators.' wrth1,,64l vehicles sold, an 182.4% rise.lt
figure of 8,756 vehicles in the six tonnes will be interesting to see how the maker's
and above category for 201,6, according to Despite posting an impressive 135.7/o new, award winning R and S Series take
figures sourced from the Society of Motor off in the next 12 months.
Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT). increase in sales, Mercedes-Benz will
Sales of these newcomers will of course
Every truck manufacturer posted healthy feel disappointed to be moving off the be boosted by the ongoing availability of
percentage increases across the board, podium's top step after a comfortable two the outgoing R Series, a truck subject to
with DAF reclaiming its market leading some seriously attractive pricing deals at
position in some style, giving it total UK years there. Operator opinion remains
dominance. polarised about Mercedes-Benz's policy present.
of using two independent dealership
The well published run up to Euro 6's networks directly competing for business For the second year running, Volvo were
introduction back on 31 December 2013 in the same territories, but nevertheless hot on the heels of their fellow countrymen
produced a huge increase in pre-deadline feedback on the three pointed stars is delivering a respectable 133/o rise in sales.
sales, but three years down the lirie it's good.
obvious that a lot of these precautionary Despite a fumover of several key
Many Mercedes-Benz heavy vehicle
purchases are now being traded in or sold buyers would like to see more franchised personnel at local and national levels,
on as truck buyers now opt for the tried dealerships provided exclusively for the MAN proved that its reputation for
and tested Euro 6 technology. legions of Sprinteq, Vito and Citan vans,
thereby creating increased workshop triage engineering excellence shines through,
DAF's XF, CF and LF ranges have with a massive jump of 197% in Scottish
delivered increased performance levels sales last year. Not far behind were Iveco
with its Euro 6 engine range, as truck users with an impressive 178/o increase.
report increased reliability, better fuel
consumption and a noticeable reduction in Rounding off our look at last year are
AdBIue consumption. Mitsubishi Fuso, with 171 vehicles sold,
whilst Renault Trucks and Isuzu Tiucks
Despite having no new major product
launches for some considerable time now, solid year on year growth figures are far
it seems that Scottish hauliers deem the from any boom or bust concerns. Proving
regularly revised DAF cabs as extremely
satisfactory for 21"i century operations. the adage of 'where there's muck, there's
That factor, combined with market leading brass' Dennis Eagle's refuse collection
service, repair and roadside assistance
vehicles more than doubled its previous
levels across Scotland's network of three
independently owned DAF dealerships, year's total.
continues to prove more than attractive for Last but not least is our old friend Hino,
a large majority of buyers.
whose200% jump was all down to selling
Ray Ashworth managing director at two more vehicles than thev did in 2015!
DAF Trucks Ltd responded exclusively
for Transport News saying, 'DAF has had IIlarUue 2015 2010 Ghange
success across the UK in 2016 with over
30% market share, so almost one in every DAF Trucks 767 2304 +200.3o/o
three trucks registered was a DAF. The Mercedes 814 +135.7o/o
success in Scotland contributed hugely to Scania 581 1919 +182.40/o
this performance. Volvo Trucks 510 1641 +133.5%
MAN 211 1191 +197.10/o
lThe growth has come from across the lveco 189 627 +178.3o/o
DAF network north of the bordeq, from Mitsubishi Fuso
Renault Trucks B2 526 +90.2o/o
the smallest LF to the biggest XF, from lsuzu Truck 49 +112.20/o
fleets large and small and from long term Dennis Eagle 45 171 +111.1o/o
Hino 0 156 +200o/o
104
95
2
Source: Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders
