Figures much worse than January.

New van registrations fell by 26.4% in February, compared to February 2011, according to the latest SMMT figures. The February figures are disappointing but not surprising – new van registrations also fell in January.

Van registrations for the year to date were down by 20.3%, although registrations on a rolling year basis – the last twelve months – were up by 10.3% compared to the same period a year before.

Stronger Demand For Bigger Vans

Van registration numbers for February were closely correlated with weight, with larger vans seeing a smaller fall in registrations than smaller models:

Truckin’ Great

As we saw in January, truck registrations are proving far more robust than van sales, suggesting that the fundamentals of the economy are not in such bad shape as consumer demand would have you think.

Truck sales rose by 26.4% in February compared to last year, generating a 36.7% rise in truck sales for the year to date and a 23.7% improvement over the last 12 months.

Artic registrations were largely unchanged from the same period last year, falling by 1.5%. However, this figure conceals a big divide between 2-axle units (up 134.7%) and 3-axle units (down 13.8%).

Once again, rigid registrations recorded the biggest increases, rising by 46.5% overall, with strong increases across all weight categories.

Bad Year For Van Manufacturers?

So far, new van registrations in 2012 are lower than any other year since 1998, except for recession-hit 2009.

Hopefully the remainder of the year will bring good economic news (such as Nissan’s announcement about the future of its Sunderland plant) that will give business owners the confidence to continue with their usual fleet replacement cycles. In the meantime, van hire businesses look set to profit from their ability to provide vans on a flexible, short-term basis.