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Van market remains on course for a stable year

NFDA 04/08/2017

“With speculation and uncertainty about the state of UK’s economy, it is encouraging to see light commercial vehicle registrations grow in July”, said Sue Robinson, Director of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers in the UK, commenting on the latest SMMT’s light commercial vehicle registration figures.

The new van market grew by 1.1% in July with 24,766 registrations and is now down by just -3.1% year to date after a phenomenal year in 2016.

In July, the mid-size vans 2.0-2.5 tonnes performed extremely well with a growth of 41.4%, which equals to 4,837 new vans on the road against last July’s 3,421 units. These vehicles tend to be used in the service sector which is very much driven by domestic consumer demand.

Sales of pickups, which have repeatedly increased up to this month, slipped back by -9.5%, but year to date are still 14.8% higher than last year.

Over the last few months there has been concern surrounding the biggest segment of the market composed of vans between 2.5-3.5 tonnes. This sector saw a moderate decline of -2.5% also in July. Many of these vehicles are bought by corporate companies and used for internet deliveries. Large fleet buyers might be holding back to see how the economy reacts as Brexit negotiations develop.

Ford continues to dominate the market with a 32.17% market share which is impressive especially considering that the second highest registrations are Volkswagen’s, with a share of 11.32%year-to-date.

Robinson continued, “Overall, we expect the market to remain stable throughout the remainder of the year but continue to perform slightly below 2016 levels, which was a record breaking year for light commercial vehicles’ registrations.”

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About the RMI

The Retail Motor Industry represents the interests of operators in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man providing sales and services to motorists and businesses. The RMI has a formal association with the independent Scottish Motor Trade Association which represents the retail motor industry in Scotland.