Page 123 - ITUK Press Cuttings 2017

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

lsuzu Truck 49 104 +112.20/o
Dennis Eagle 45 95 +111.1o/o
Hino 0 2 +200o/o

Source: Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders