Truck registrations reach four-year high
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By David Wilcox
THE COMBINATION of the new 63 registration plate and the rush to buy late Euro-5 models pushed September's truck registrations to the highest monthly total for four years.
Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) shows 5,295 trucks of 6-tonne GVVV or more were registered last month, 34.4% up on the same month last year. This takes the year-to-date total up to 29,268, just over 3% ahead of last year, so this strong finish to the year means it now looks increasingly likely that forecasts of 8% to 10% market growth this year may turn out to be correct. This is despite a desperately poor start to the year: at the end of the first half, the total was still trailing 7.5% behind 2012.
"Year-to-date truck demand is back to 2012 levels after a slow start to the year, and we expect the last quarter to be very strong for the sector," said SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes. Tractor units are underpinning this growth, their registrations up by 15.4% so far this year. If this trend continues in the final quarter, there is every chance that the year-end tractor unit total will top 20,000, beating the previous record of 19,884 in 2005. In contrast, the market for rigid trucks over 6-tonne GVVV remains sluggish, lagging 5.5% compared with last year by the
end of September.
Although Daf retains comfortable leadership of the 6-tonne-plus truck market with a year-to-date market share of 28.6%, (down from 30.3% last year), followed by Mercedes-Benz with 16.3% (up from 15.8%), it is third-placed Scania that is making best progress. Its registrations are up 23.6% this year, taking market share up from 11.8% to 14.1%.