June’s bus registration total was 14.0 per cent up on figures for the same month in 2003. However, for the first six months of 2004 registrations were down by 10.9 per cent.
Coach registrations were down 1.1 per cent in June, but up by 8.3 per cent for the year to June. More details of registrations by gross vehicle weights are presented in the table and charts that follow.
Over the course of the year registrations of buses over 8.5t gvw have set a declining trend compared to those in 2003. Big falls were seen in January and May. The June result, with a marked 25.3 per cent increase, has tempered the pace of decline, particularly for single deck buses. Coaches had seen growth extended from 2003, but this is expected to weaken over the second half of 2004.
Headline trends still confirm industry expectations of weakness in bus demand this year, but there is now some positive news as the gap relative to 2003 has narrowed. Mini buses to 3.5t gvw take a big slice of the total volume and much weaker demand here has had a key influence on the overall trend. Over the year to June the fall in mini bus registrations from 4,338 to 3,611 units accounted for over 102 per cent of the 714 net fall in total bus registrations. But growth has come in the 3.5 to 8.5t and 8.5 to 16t gvw categories, respectively 28.8 per cent and 10.4 per cent up over the year to June.
The rolling year total for all bus registrations at June was 11,714 and for coaches it was 1,086. The corresponding totals at December 2003 were respectively 12,428 and 1,033. The larger, double deck buses saw a rolling year total of 1,367 at June 2004, this was 1,568 at December 2003. The annual average registration volume for double deck buses from 2000 to 2002 was 1,206.
See attached tables for further details.
