C V Industry Statistics | Truck and Van Registrations | September 2011

September van and truck market up 8.8% as sector confidence stays high

“Confidence returned to the commercial vehicle market in 2011 and the September market continues the upward trend, growing 8.8% on last year,” said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. “The future state of the economy is certainly a concern, but it’s clear that owners and operators are currently investing in new, fuel-efficient vehicles to help weather the storm of high fuel prices.”

CV Regsitrations September 2011

Looking to the future, the economic outlook is uncertain and further growth relies on government’s ability to sustain an investment-led recovery through targeted incentives and encouragement of private spending on R&D, skills, plant and machinery.

 Heavy Commercial Vehicles September 2011

		Trucks·               Rolling year: up 30.75% to 39,658.·               Month: up 3.65% to 4,798.·               YTD: up 21.29% to 29,620.
Rigids ·Rolling year: up 2.59% to 22,254 ·Month: down –8.45% to 2,883. ·YTD: down -0.74% at 17,232.
All artics  ·               Rolling year: up 101.44% to 17,404. ·               Month: up 29.04% to 1,915. ·               YTD: up 75.49% to 12,388

The Manufacturers’ Market

HEAVY COMMERCIAL VEHICLES 6t and Above

The hard charger this year ontinues to be MAN, who are 100% above their 2010 registration tally with a 50% increase in market share.  This performance catapaults them from fifth to third in the league table.  MAN’s new partners have performed less well in September, as the company chief announces production cuts of between ten and fifteen percent from this month. 

Iveco’s turnaround continued, registering more trucks than Scania and Volvo in September and overhauling Renault in the process, although the company is still 2% down on their 2010 market share.

 Figures in () brackets denote last month’s position [ ] denote end of 2010 position

Light Commercial Vehicles September 2011

The van market recorded 9.4% growth in September, building on the strong performance seen throughout the year. The > 2.0t portion of the market performed particularly well, as the changing requirements of the market continued to play out and LEZ considerations push operators of older vehicles to upgrade.

All Vans to 3.5T ·     Rolling year: up 21.91% to 250,710.   ·   Month: up 22.78% to 10,640.   ·   YTD: up 20.86% to 161,040.

The Manufacturers’ Market

Despite Vauxhall’s retail sales achievements, the registration volumes were disappointing in the key month of September, whilst Volkswagen continues to snap at their heels.  Mercedes-Benz continues to underperform with registrations nearly eight percent down in a market growing by 18.5%.  If the German manufacturer’s performance improves in the last quarter they could overhaul Renault, but are unlikely to regain last year’s 4^th place back from Peugeot.  

Figures in () brackets denote last month’s position [ ] denote end of 2010 position

The ‘squeezed middle’ 3.5 – 6.0t Rigid market continued to decline in September as operators combine heavy trucks and large vans to handle operations traditionally carried out by this market sector.  The decline has been led by the one-time market leader Ford which has dropped from the all-familiar pole position down to third in September whilst a good month from Mercedes-Benz rockets the company into first place.  September has seen some of the smaller players taking some volume away from the market leader, with Renault, Peugeot and Vauxhall all putting in record monthly registrations in this category.