Van registrations fell by 0.6% in April, taking the total rise for the year to date to 12.2%, down from 16% in March, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Truck registrations continued to fall, following the introduction of Euro 6 regulations, and sales were down by almost 25% on April 2013, at just 2,718 units.
As a result, overall CV sales fell by 4.2% in April, compared to the same period last year, although they remain up by 7.3% on the year to date, thanks to the early surge in new van registrations:
UK van and truck registrations: 2014 and % change on 2013
| April | % change | Year-to-date | % change | Rolling year | % change | |
| Vans | 20,620 | -0.6% | 100,537 | 12.2% | 281,977 | 11.4% |
| Trucks | 2,718 | -24.9% | 10,292 | -24.8% | 52,831 | 22.3% |
| Total | 23,338 | -4.2% | 110,829 | 7.3% | 334,808 | 13.0% |
Data courtesy of SMMT (www.smmt.co.uk)
Interestingly, Mike Hawes, the SMMT’s chief executive, suggested that van demand may have plateaued for this year (at least, that’s my interpretation of his comments, based on this month’s 12.2% YTD growth figure):
“Ongoing robust demand for vans continued the year-to-date trend in line with SMMT’s revised van forecast for 2014, a forecast that should see the market grow more than 11% on 2013.”
Small vans drag on sales
The decline in van registrations was not evenly split across the different weight classes. The big mover was the sub-2.0t van category, where new registrations fell by 13.8% in April, compared to the previous year. A 2.5% decline in sales of 2.0t-2.5t also dragged on the total, and the 0.5% rise in registrations of vans between 2.5t and 3.5t was not enough to offset these losses.
Still, let’s look on the bright side — sales in individual categories can be skewed from month-to-month by big orders, a nd sales of commercial vehicles in all categories — including trucks — are now significantly higher than they were three years ago, as this graph shows:
UK CV registrations Jan 2010 to date (courtesy of SMMT)
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