New commercial vehicle registrations rose by 11% to 363,155 units in 2014, making last year the highest-selling year since 2007, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The growth was driven by van sales, which rose by 18.7% to 321,686 units last year, while truck sales fell by 26.2%, thanks to the introduction of Euro 6 emissions regulation: truck operators rushed to buy Euro 5 trucks in 2013 before pulling back from the new market in 2014.
UK van and truck registrations: 2014 and % change on 2013
| December | % change | Year-to-date | % change | Rolling year | % change | |
| Vans | 26,529 | 26.6% | 321,686 | 18.7% | 321,686 | 18.7% |
| Trucks | 2,898 | -74.5% | 41,469 | -26.2% | 41,469 | -26.2% |
| Total | 29,427 | -8.9% | 363,155 | 11.0% | 363,155 | 11.0% |
Source: SMMT (www.smmt.co.uk)
As usual, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s a graph showing how sales have changed since 2010:
SMMT van and truck registrations 10/2010-12/2014 (courtesy of SMMT)
Which vans sold best?
The growth in new van registrations was not evenly distributed across the van sector.
The big winner was the 2.0-2.5t category (vans like the Citroen Berlingo and Ford Transit Connect), where sales rose by 42% to 56,257 last year, highlighting the popularity of these medium-sized vans, which are bigger and more capable than they used to be.
At the top end of the market, sales of 2.5-3.5t vans performed strongly, rising by 19.5% to 183,308 — in volume terms, this is by far the biggest segment of the van market.
Other categories that deserve a mention are sub-2.0t vans, where registrations fell by 5% — perhaps because there are very few new van models that actually fit into this category.
The pick-up segment also deserves a mention, because sales rose by 15.1% to 33,823 last year, meaning that this formerly specialist segment of the CV market is now comparable, in volume terms, with 2.0-2.5t vans! This tends to confirm that pick-ups are the new company car of choice for many small business owners.
Pingback: Van registrations rise by 21.7% in January - Van News: The VanRental.co.uk Blog