The price of new trucks will inevitably rise in the UK in 2017 because of pressure from the weak pound and rising inflation, according to David Hill, commercial vehicle editor at Glass’s Information Service.
Hill said the rising cost of importing vehicles and the components needed to assemble them from around the world will soon begin to be passed on to haulage customers.
“It is inevitable that new truck prices will go up,” he said. “We don’t solely manufacture trucks in the UK anymore so increased importing costs will have a knock-on effect elsewhere in the chain. New trucks will become more expensive.”
He said hauliers have yet to see any difference in prices since the Brexit vote because of PCP payment models.
“You can buy a new truck for between £250 and £299 per week. Trucks are being sold on a rental basis and any increase will not be as marked as if you were paying for a vehicle outright,” said Hill.
Richard Parkin, of Grant Thornton’s Transaction Advisory Services and former head of valuations for Glass’s Information Service, said: “We’ve not seen any movement on price yet as manufacturers have hedged their costs through this year.
"It will be translated into higher list prices next year. It can’t be absorbed.”
Parkin said the first sign of pressure could come from a dwindling in discounts or level of support from OEMs to customers. “The affordability of offering discounts and marketing will reduce,” he said.
Speaking to CM at last week’s Freight in the City Expo, Phil Moon, marketing manager at Daf Trucks, agreed that manufacturers could only hold prices for so long.
“Most of the Daf trucks destined for the UK are assembled in Leyland [certainly, nearly all the right-hand drive models], which helps. But in these there are a lot of components that we buy in euros and the current exchange rate position puts pricing pressure on everybody.
"We’d prefer not to pass it on to customers, but inevitably we’re having to do so.”
By David Craik
