According to this report, Iveco is to hike its prices by 2.5 per cent as of July 1st, and DAF took similar action a month or so back. And according to this piece, Indian OEMs are getting ready to do likewise.
Prices increasing as
demand slackens? Sounds like the beginning of something unpleasant.
Most European truck stocks have been dropping fairly hard over the past couple of weeks, and now we also hear that European freight brokers are raising prices.
Navistar is confident
about its approach to 2010, according to this piece.
We can't wait to see a
Euro V compliant EGR engine from MAN in service and returning fuel figures.
More Ashok Leyland
news here, and the claim that the Indian OEM is looking to 'de-risk its
business model'.
Interestingly, amongst
those new territories likely to be targeted by Ashok is Russia. We're already
seeing something of a squeeze being placed upon existing local OEMs here, with high
end European products from one side, and low tech Chinese from the other. Quite
what a concerted attack from India would do remains to be seen.
In other news, Ashok
has made a strategic investment in the German emissions specialist Albonair. We
don't know the details as yet, but think Euro IV and India some time soon.
On the one hand, we
have Leif Johansson saying that Volvo's outlook for 2008 European truck market
growth remains at 10 per cent.
On the other, we have
Andreas Renschler suggesting that Daimler has noticed a softening in European
order intake.
Can they both be
right?
Ashok Leyland has big
plans to expand capacity, according to this report.
At the same time, it's
also talking about divesting some of its stake in the Nissan LCV JV in which it
is currently the 51 per cent majority owner.
Which, on balance, suggests some confidence in the Indian CV market. Do we share in this?
Probably not.
Every
now and again, the world tilts upon its axis. But we rarely notice the fact at
the time, as we're too busy trying to maintain a foothold. Quite how history
will treat the second and third weeks in June 2008 remains to be seen, but when
we get to week four, one thing seems entirely probable. The landscape out over
which the global truck industry gazes has changed, and changed fundamentally.