LCV market is fuelled by increase in van sales

LCV market is fuelled by increase in van sales

Last month in July, for the second time this year the number of new van registrations has risen, and increased by more than 10 percent to 18,913 registrations. This comes after a decrease in sales of 2.2 percent in June.

This increase has help to stabilise the year's rolling sales figures for light commercial vehicles, which are down a mere 0.1 percent from 2011, with 248,452 new van registrations. On the whole though, the market is still down by 7.8 percent based on year-to-date. Chief Executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), Paul Everitt, has commented "The van and rigid truck markets still have a way to go to hit pre-recession levels, but artic volumes have grown since October 2010 to reach levels not seen since 2008".

The only vans that haven't shown any growth in sales over July have been 2 to 2.5 tonne vehicles, with figures down by 0.5 percent at 2,420 registrations, and four-by-fours, with sales figures down by 29.4 percent, and only 375 registered. 2.5 to 3.5 tonne vans sales were 10,992, a rise of 6.8 percent, pickup trucks were 1,929, a large increase of 38.9 percent, whilst sub 2-litre vans were 3,197, increasing by 26.8 percent.

To sum up, Everitt noted, "The commercial vehicle market received a welcome boost in July, rising 8.1% in the month, fuelled by strong van registrations. Down 2.2% in the month, truck registrations showed signs of stabilising after almost two years of consistent recovery from recessionary lows,"

You can read SMMT's report in it's entirety here: http://www.smmt.co.uk/2012/08/van-registrations-boost-sees-july-market-rise-8-1/

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