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

Mike Hawes, the SMMT Chief Executive, says March’s van market outperformance was expected and even the stagnant, post Euro 6 truck market saw some benefit from the plate change:

“The new 14-plate drove van numbers up, pushing the overall commercial vehicle market 11.4% ahead of 2013 to more than 54,000 units. Registration plate changes always prove popular with van buyers, so March and September numbers are typically more than double the average month, a trend continued this March as volumes rose 14.6% to above 50,000 units.

Truck demand remained subdued as the influence of Euro-6 legislation continues to be felt across the sector, but the level of impact has lessened steadily since January and should be minimal by mid-year.”

As the graph below shows, van demand has really started to lift off over the last six months, suggesting that the UK recovery may be the genuine item:

Truck registrations have stalled following a spurt of sales ahead of the introduction of Euro 6 emissions rules, but demand for new vans has been rising steadily since October, suggesting the market may be returning to health (graph courtesy of SMMT)

The rise in van registations is being led by larger models, too — while registrations of smaller, sub-2.0t vans fell by 18.5% in March, compared to the same period in 2013, demand for models between 2.0t and 2.5t rose by 55%, while registrations of vans between 2.5t and 3.5t rose by 16.9%, to 27,460 — more than half of all vans registered in March.