We’ve grown use to the UK’s commercial vehicle manufacturers putting in strong monthly performances over the last year, but September was exceptional.
Van and truck production rose by 103.6% in September, compared to September 2014, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The increase took production from 4,818 units to 9,811 vans and trucks. Demand was strong in both home and export markets, but the exports had the edge, rising by a whopping 113.9%:
CV manufacturing | Sep-14 | Sep-15 | % Change | YTD-14 | YTD-15 | % Change |
Total | 4,818 | 9,811 | 103.6% | 50,746 | 71,406 | 40.7% |
Home | 2,522 | 4,900 | 94.3% | 24,474 | 36,396 | 48.7% |
Export | 2,296 | 4,911 | 113.9% | 26,272 | 35,010 | 33.3% |
% export | 47.7% | 50.1% | 51.8% | 49.0% |
Data courtesy of SMMT (www.smmt.co.uk)
Commenting, Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive said that a mix of new models and resurgent EU demand was responsible for the gains:
“The British commercial vehicle industry’s continued recovery is great to see, with significant investments into new models reaping benefits and helping overcome structural changes.
Manufacturers are capitalising on increasing demand for CVs across the rest of the EU – the sector’s principal export market – as well as in the UK, where registrations have grown consistently throughout this year.”
As the graph below shows, the UK CV manufacturing sector is now starting to reverse some of the losses seen since 2008 — albeit only modestly:
No doubt some of these new vans are going to replenish and extend van rental fleets in the UK and EU markets; the van hire sector did well during the recession in the UK, so a similar story might be playing out in some european markets.
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