Roadrunner sales step up
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LEYLAND'S Roadrunner made its first significant impact on new commercial vehicle registrations last month, with 42 vehicles registered.
While that is only 0.9 of one per cent of the October registrations over 3.5 tonnes recorded by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Leyland reports that 28 more had been registered on the first two days of November alone and the pace was expected to quicken as vehicles are bodied.
Leyland's share of the over3.5-tonne sector climbed last month from 12.5 per cent in 1983 to 14.3 per cent, although the number of vehicles sold fell from 759 to 649. For the first 10 months of the year, its share is up from 14.2 per cent to 14.8 per cent.
It is still behind Ford, whose market share for the year to date is 18.1 per cent, down from 23 per cent in the first 10 months of 1983. The comparison with last year is distorted, though, by a dealer incentive which pushed Ford's sales in October 1983 to 2,265 vehicles, or 37.2 per cent of the market.
Last month, Ford sold 769 vehicles, or 16.9 per cent of the over-3.5-tonne market.
The downward trend in new commercial vehicle registrations (CM, October 13) was continued last month, and the Ford anomaly helped bring overall registrations down by six per cent from 23,622 to 22,211.
For the year to October 31, the climb in registrations has fallen from 5.6 per cent in the first half of the year to 1.1 per cent. Importers' market share last month climbed from 34.4 per cent to 38.5 per cent, and for the first 10 months it was up from 34.4 per cent in 1983 to 36.1 per cent.
Taken sector by sector, the sales trends are less stark in lighter vehicles. Over 3.5 tonnes, sales climbed from 43,040 in the first 10 months of last year to 44,942. Importers' share climbed from 31.3 per cent to 34.4 per cent.
Light 4x4 sales climbed from 10,216 to 10,628, with the imported share climbing from 43.7 per cent to 47.9 per cent, largely on account of increased sales of the Nissan Patrol and Bedford KB.
Medium/heavy van sales remained almost level, up from 100,229 to 100,648, with the imported share rising from 42.4 per cent to 42.7 per cent.
There was little change, either, in light van sales, up only from 73,424 to 73,454. Importers there increased their market share from 24.5 per cent to 26.7 per cent.