Britain’s new van market is continuing its strong surge, registrations climbing 6.2 per cent in October.
A total of 28,808 new vans were registered in October, sales having grown in all but one month of 2015.
Year-to-date the registration figures are 312,369, a climb of 16.8 per cent over 2014 and according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT), which compiles the tables, fuelled by increasing business confidence and the growing popularity of online shopping boosting transport needs.
According to SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes, “remarkable growth” has been seen across all commercial vehicle types so far this year. “The rise in demand for vans demonstrates an ongoing trend as more consumers choose the convenience of home delivery,” he says.
The commercial market as a whole dipped 2.9 per cent in October, due to a drop of almost 32 per cent in truck registrations, but according to Hawes this was expected.
“Following an exceptionally strong October in 2014, it’s no surprise to see a decline in last month’s truck market. To put this into context, at 5,791 registrations, this October’s performance is more than double the average monthly total of 2,720 delivered by the market since 2001.”
The largest part of the van market, the 2.5 to 3.5-tonne sector, showed some of the strongest rises, up 17.5 per cent with 17,766 registered. Conversely demand for the 2.0 to 2.5-tonne and sub-2.0-tonne vehicles dipped, down 26.6 per cent and 6.8 per cent respectively with 3,822 and 2,762 vehicles registered.
Ford continues to dominate the van market, with 26.75 per cent share year-to-date compared to 25.9 percent in October 2014. Nearest challenger is Volkswagen on 12 per cent (down from 12.7 in 2014), and then Vauxhall on 11 per cent (9.3).
