- Van and truck registrations up 22.8% to 13,051 in August, rolling year up 22.0% to 290,203.
- Truck registrations up 23.0% to 2,411 in August, rolling year up 22.6% to 39,493.
- Van registrations up 22.8% to 10,640 in August; rolling year up 21.9% to 250,710.
UK van and truck registrations: 2011 and % change on 2010
| August | % change | Year-to-date | % change | Rolling year | % change | |
| Vans | 10,640 | 22.8% | 161,040 | 20.9% | 250,710 | 21.9% |
| Trucks | 2,411 | 23.0% | 24,822 | 25.4% | 39,493 | 22.6% |
| Total | 13,051 | 22.8% | 185,862 | 21.5% | 290,203 | 22.0% |
“August saw the strong and sustained bounce-back continue across much of the van and truck industry as operators returned to more typical replacement schedules,” said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. “With the commercial vehicle market up by over 20% for the year-to-date, industry is optimistic, but short to medium term economic uncertainty is likely to temper the rate of future growth.”
Commercial vehicle market overview
- August is typically a below average month in the van and truck registration calendar with respectively 5% and 6.5% of the annual total volumes during the 1997 to 2007 period.
- Industry is consequently cautious when using August’s results as a guide to assess trends in the van and truck markets. However, some positive trends set in 2011 (particularly over the three months to August) continue and others also emerged in the month.
- Sector analysts expect annual volume of van registrations to hold in the range 250,000 to 260,000 over the near to medium term.
- Growth in total volume in truck sector >6T GVW continues to be led by artics and heavy weight rigids. However, some signs in recent months of up-turn in lighter-weight trucks, notably 6 to 7.4 GVW and 7.4 – 7.5 GVW segments.
- Total truck > 6T GVW annual volume near to 35,000 units; given that the bounce-back from recession is easing and the economic growth momentum and outlook is weak, progress to and beyond 37,000 units will be challenging.
Click through to download the full August 2011 van and truck news release and data tables.
