Truck sales slump 20%
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• Sales of commercial vehicles last year were more than 20% down on 1989 as the industry slid into its worst slump in a decade.
Year-end figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show sales almost 21% lower than their 1989 total of 371,104.
lveco Ford topped the league for trucks and artics in 1990, selling 11,347, but this was down over 4,000 on its 1989 figure. Leyland Daf ended the year just behind with 11,096 sales, compared with 14,586 in 1989.
Mercedes was third with 7,824 — down almost 3,000 — and Volvo was fourth with 4,671; down from 7,031.
Renault took fifth place for the year, with 2,927 sales (4,148 in 1989). Next was ERF with 2,409 (4,368); Scalia with 2,160 (3,641); MAN with 2,031 (2,714) and AWD with 1,263 (1,434). Seddon Atkinson sold 1,215 (2,185), Foden 827 (1,645) and Dennis 397 (400).
Last week AWD and ERF announced contracts from Zimbabwe for 2,000 rigids and 440 tractive units respectively. Although overseas sales do not figure on SMMT statistics, they will have given a welcome boost to the two British firms struggling to sell in the home market (CM 3-9 January).