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Soft around the edges
Page 22
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CV registrations aren't behaving exactly as could be expected. David Burke of MAN ERF explains the marketplace trends...
THE ANALYST David Burke, marketing director, MAN ERF UK Last month was, in certain respects, slightly disappointing for the manufacturing industry, with some key sectors still a little 'soft in terms of registrations.
To a certain extent this was an echo of the first couple of months of the year, but despite that, I remain confident my overall projection for some 50-51,000 registrations over the course of 2005 will prove about right. I sense no deepseated nervousness among operators, and the slight hesitancy in some sectors has been eased by buoyancy in others.
In the 7.5 tonne market, figures continue to run a little behind last year at this time. I think this is perhaps the most interesting feature of the year to date, and must cause us to wonder if we are seeing the first effects of the driving licence change beginning to wash through. You might have expected the traditional gentle surge in registrations, based on the plate change, but instead we see a very slight decline. Other two axle rigids registrations are similarly 'fiat', so it is hard to be too specific on the causes.
On the more positive side, three axle rigids are buoyant The spring is always a key time for the registration of tippers and allied vehicles for the building and construction industries, as better weather sees projects getting under way in earnest.
Oddly though, against the rise in three axle rigids, registrations of their four axle counterparts are not showing the same rate of growth.
Elsewhere, in the tractor market, two axle models have been particularly strong, perhaps attributable to the strength currently seen in the parcels sector. Again, in a year yet to really settle into a clear pattern, we see three axle tractor registrations marginally down against the same period last year.
So a reasonable start, if a little erratic in certain sectors where we might normally have looked for a little more growth or consistency. For our part, however, we are confident the industry is in good shape and look forward to the rest of the year