Daf is predicting that the truck market for HGVs over six tonnes in unlikely to be more than 36,000 units in 2009.
This would be down from the 48,700 units that were sold in 2008.
Stuart Hunt, managing director at Daf, says that while 2008 was an excellent year for the company, 2009 was unlikely to be so positive.
"The issue for many truck operators is liquidity rather than profit or loss. Banks seems less willing to advance loans for capital purchases – and many operators have relatively young fleets of modern, reliable vehicles and are concerned they won't have enough work to fully utilise them."
However Hunt remains confident that Daf is well placed to come through the tough year because of its existing customer base and its vehicle line-up.