Sales show downward trend
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• by Toby Clark Truck and van sales showed a downturn last month, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, with only a couple of manufacturers gaining ground.
Leyland Oaf remains the most popular brand in the heavy commercial sector (over 3.5 tomes GVW), but its registrations are down from January 1998. Scania and lveco also lost sales.
More variants
Mercedes-Benz has introduced more variants of the Atego and overtook lveco Ford during January. Renault VI and Volvo (which is selling Mitsubishi's Canter models) were the only contenders to show an increase on last year.
The heavy vans sector (1,801-3,500kg GVW) was particularly hard hit, dropping by 13.5% from the same period last year. Ford appears to have lost sales to new products such as the Renault Master and Vauxhall Movano.
It was a similar story in the light van sector (up to teookg GVW): although sales were up on December, there was still a significant decline year on year. Among the few manufacturers to show continued growth were Peugeot and Renault, with new or revised van ranges. Vauxhall's figures were well down, but they are expected to pick up when the Astravan enters full production.