TRUCK SALES WORLDWIDE

* USA - Recession Hurting Used-Truck Exports - Glut Lowering Prices, Executives Say

Oxon Hill,MD,USA -Transport Topics, by Jonathan S. Reiskin -April 27, 2009: -- The sale of used North American trucks to overseas markets may once again become a useful technique for maximizing revenue for sellers, industry executives said, but for now the recession has caused even that market to decline... A Volvo Trucks vice president offered examples as to how the business has been a good one for the Swedish-based corporation, both for its European and North American tractors. However, a financial executive and a Navistar Inc. senior vice president said used-truck prices are currently at extremely low levels, with equipment inventories at glut stage... Frank Oliveira, a Canadian-based vice president with Volvo’s Arrow Truck Sales unit, which handles used vehicles, admitted that used-truck prices in Europe plunged by about 35% during the second half of 2008, but he said some major vendors managed to keep volumes high by slashing prices... The export market “was once a nice offset, but it ain’t now,” Scott Cohen, principal of Cobalt Finance, a used-truck financing company in Deerfield, Ill, said. He added that since the start of the year, used-truck values have dropped further and inventory levels have risen... (Photo from navadaf: A Volvo used truck to sale)


* UK - Weststar buys LDV

Birmingham,UK -Road Transport, by Ian Tonkin -7 May 2009: -- Malaysian vehicle importer and vehicle manufacturer Weststar has completed a deal to buy Birmingham-based LDV. Yesterday, the British government agreed to provide the ailing van manufacturer with a £5m bridging loan to keep it afloat while Weststar completed the deal... Following the announcement, LDV is expected to recall its application for bankruptcy protection, which it filed on 29 April... (Picture ldv: index)