The UK’s commercial vehicle manufacturing industry continued its dizzying descent in February, with volumes down by 22.1% compared to the same period last year, and by a stomach-churning 36% since January 2012, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT):

Data courtesy of SMMT (www.smmt.co.uk)

CV manufacturing output has now fallen for eight consecutive months. SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes tried to put a positive spin on the figures by continuing to blame them on subdued demand and industry restructuring, but the numbers increasingly don’t add up — UK CV manufacturing output is down by 18.4% so far this year, but CV registrations are up by 9.9% so far this year.

For whatever reason, UK and European buyers aren’t buying British-made CVs as much as they used to, either because vehicles that used to be made in the UK aren’t made here anymore (like the Ford Transit) or because the vehicles that are made here don’t satisfy buyers’ requirements as well as they used to. In either case, the news isn’t good, as these two graphs illustrate:

CV output rolling year and year-to-date (l-r) (courtesy of SMMT)

One possible glimmer of hope is the new Vauxhall Vivaro, which will be built at the firm’s plant in Luton and could trigger an uplift in sales as customers focus on what will be, albeit briefly, the newest van model on the market.