Transport companies replacing their fleets and business growth in the distribution sector have led to an increase of over 12% in the sales of commercial vehicles above 3.5 tonnes, with the pace soon expected to pick up even more.
"The growth rate was chiefly sustained by distribution companies that decided to replace their fleets this year and small and medium-sized companies that have started to buy vehicles to conduct their transport operations independently," explained Alexandru Blanaru, sales manager of Iveco Romania, the best-selling brand on the local market for commercial vehicles above 3.5 tonnes.
Furthermore, an increasing number of companies operating in the field of commodity transport, logistics and distribution have invested in the expansion of their vehicle fleet in response to the development of the market on which they operate. One of the main players, First Logistics & Distribution, has almost entirely directed its investments this year towards the partial replacement of its fleet of vehicles.
The same trend can be found on the courier service market, too.
"Whereas DHL was not using large capacity vehicles for domestic distribution in 2004, in 2005 we bought 3.5 tonne trucks as part of a massive expansion of our domestic transportation capacity, in order to meet the existing demand on our market," stated Alexandru Gheorghe, commercial manager of DHL International Romania. He added a new expansion of the existing vehicle fleet was slated for 2006.
More than 5,300 commercial vehicles of over 3.5 tonnes were sold in the first ten months of the year according to data from the Association of Automotive Manufacturers and Importers of Romania (APIA). The highest growth was seen on the 3.5 - 6 tonne segment, where sales in the first ten months progressed by 25% to nearly 1,400 units.
The main players on the Romanian market for commercial vehicles above 3.5 tonnes are Iveco, Mercedes, Renault, DAF, Volvo, and MAN. Iveco sold most of the vehicles in this category in the first ten months of 2005 (1,714), followed by Mercedes (1,052), Volvo (653), Renault (549), DAF (496) and MAN (458 units).
marius.anton@zf.ro ; lavinia.marin@zf.ro
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