SMMT reveals record OK sales
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• Sales of commercial vehicles in Britain last year reached an all-time record of 371,104, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
The 1989 total was up 4% on 1988, and every CV sector enjoyed market growth overall during the year. But the boom was a first-half phenomenon: December registrations were down 13.63% on last year.
Top of the truck sales league above 3.5 tonnes was Iveco Ford, which registered 15,511 trucks during 1989. That is 5.4% below its 1988 total, reflecting a loss of market share at 22.4%.
Leyland Daf registered 14,586 vehicles (21.06% of the UK market) last year, but like lveco Ford, its market share was down (by 4.4%).
Mercedes-Benz managed a 4.6% increase in registrations (10,774) during the year to take 15.56% of the market.
Volvo's registrations passed the 7,000 mark for the first time as the Swedish marque took 10.15% of the market, up slightly on 1988.
ERF took fifth place and began the year with huge increases in registrations (up by 16.79%), which pushed it above Scania and Renault in the sales league, ending the year with 4,368 trucks registered (a 6.3% share).
Although the market grew by almost 2%, Renault suffered a 10.5% drop in registrations: down to 4,148. Scania boosted its UK sales by 15.5% to 3,641 trucks. It now holds a 5.25% share.
Truck imports into the UK were up by 3.6% last year to 28,545 vehicles, but MAN registrations fell by 0.4%, giving it just under 4% of the market. Seddon Atkinson's registrations also fell overall, with 2,185 trucks, down by over 2%, to give it a 3.15% share.
Foden fared rather better, with registrations up almost 10% to 1,645, (2.37%). This put Foden just ahead of AWD, which registered 1,434 trucks (2.07%).
Hino was included in the SMMT figures for the first time with 510 registrations.