Will the market of business automobile keep stable growth this year or fluctuate? Recently Wu Qiwei, the deputy general manager of Yuchai Machinery Co., Ltd, gave his judgment and prediction about the market In the 2007 sales and service meeting.
Big power and multi-axis heavy duty truck will still be the main growth model
In 2006, the growth models in the truck market were still concentrated on the heavy-duty trucks. According to statistics, the sales of heavy-duty trucks were 305432 in 2006. It was 29.3% increase over the previous year. It was much higher than the average growth rate of 13.4% in the truck market.
Wu Qiwei was optimistic about the business automobile market this year especially the heavy-duty truck market. He thought that the sales of heavy-duty truck would be 330,000 about 10% higher than last year; the sales of medium truck would be 210,000, up 3.5%; and the sales of light-duty truck would be 1.03 million, up 8.5%.
He said: Big power and multi-axis is the direction of the development of heavy-duty truck. The gas saving 19 to 32-ton trucks will still be popular model in the market; and the demands for 14 to 19-ton trucks will not be much increased.?
The charge by weight? policy will affect the structure of trucks
The 6?2 tri-axis trucks, heavy-duty tractors, heavy-duty construction machines and light trucks will be the main model for Yuchai this year. It is based on the influence of charge by weight? national policy.
In order to find out the impact of charge by weight? policy, Yuchai did detailed research and analysis of the heavy-duty truck market. They found that if the loaded weight is less than 30 tons, there is no big difference with the cost for all types of trucks. If the weight exceeds 30 tons, the cost for 8?4 trucks will be increased obviously. If the weight exceeds 36 tons, the cost will be increased for the 4?2 semi-trailer or full-trailer while the toll charge for 6?4 semi-trailer and full-trailer wont be much difference. If the loaded weight is between 37 and 43 tons, the costs for 6?4 full-trailer and 6?4 semi-trailer are similar, but the cost for 4?2 semi-trailer will be doubled. If the weight is over 43 tons, the toll charge will be increased obviously for all types of trucks.
Based on the research, Wu Qiwei thought that 4?2 series trucks are ideal for loading 5 to 17 tons; 6?2 series are suitable for loading 10 to 22 tons; 8?4 series are good for 15 to 31 tons; 4?2 semi-trailers are preferable for loading 20 to 35 tons; 4?2 tractors with tri-axis semi-trailer are good options for 20 to 37 tons; 6?4 full-trailers are ideal for loading 25 to 43 tons; and 6?4 tractor with tri-axis semi-trailer are good for 25 to 47 tons.
In 2007, the charge by weight? policy will be implemented in more provinces. It will have bigger impact on the market. According to Wu Qiwei, with the influence of fuel tax, depreciation and road maintenance expense more and more users would choose lighter and more economical model.
The sales of self-unloading truck will grow fast
Wu Qiwei expected that the sales of heavy construction self-unloading truck especially of the 6?4 and 8?4 model would be 54,000 in 2007 and it would be a 20%increase. The major markets would be Hebei, Shandong, Liaoning, Henan, Inner Mongolia, Shanx, Chongqing, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shanxi, Fujian, and Hunan provinces.
On other hand as the light truck is developed to the direction of more tonnage capacity, the demand for 6 to 8-ton light trucks would be increased. The market would be concentrated on Jiangsu, Guangdong, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces.
(writer: Lv Caixia)
