Continued demand for vans saw the commercial vehicle market return to pre-recession levels in 2014, reflecting the growing confidence of many businesses in the UK.
The commercial vehicle market grew by 11.0% to 363,155 units in 2014, the highest level since 2007, led by demand for vans, with registrations up by 18.7% to 321,686 for the year. Truck registrations fell 26.2% throughout the year due to changing legislation.
“The truck market has been distorted by the introduction of Euro-6 emissions regulations at the start of the year and new Type Approval legislation at year end, which affected fleet renewal patterns and caused a drop in registrations, said Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive. “The outlook for 2015 is bright, however, with stability expected to return to the market.”
Meanwhile, overall bus and coach registrations fell 4.6% in 2014 to 7,352 units, falling in December alone by 26.1%. Whole year demand for purpose-built coaches rose 5.8%, despite a 51.1% drop in registrations in December.
“In spite of the recent growth seen in the bus and coach market, the sector was unable to overcome previous months of decline in 2014,” said Mike Hawes. “The trend of growth in the purpose-built coach sector was reflected in the 5.8% rise for 2014, compared to the moderate declines seen in other areas of the market.”
