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CV registrations march on..1
Page 24
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In this industry .rt's never hard to find something to complain about — but in
terms of vehicle registrations the news is good and set to stay that way.
IMITIMPITS Robin Dickeson, CV affairs manager, SMMT
Figures just released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reveal that van and truck registrations rose by 6.9% in March to 58,732 units. The year-to-date figure was up by 2.0%, although the rollingyear total fell 1.0% to 387,929: which is still comfortably above the all-important long-term average.
"The UK van and truck market is very heathy and looks good for the future," according to Robin Dickeson, commercial vehicle affairs manager at the SMMT. "March was a cracker." he adds. "a record month for commercial vehicle registrations, with trucks doing particularly well.
With so many new van and truck models due to make a first public appearance at the CV Show in just over two weeks time, and big changes coming to the operating environment, we expected the figures to be good,' says Dickeson.
"Some operators are clearly waiting to see what deals they can get on the new metal or on the few remaining run-out models," he suggests. "This means there has probably never been a better time to acquire a new van or truck.
No time for dithering
"The uncertainty caused by dithering over the dates for dig itachs and the implications of Euro-4 have distorted the market, but we think April figures will be good too, particularly as truckers rush to beat the tacho deadline. The fact that we now know that digitachs will be mandatory for virtually everything above 3.5 tonnes from Monday 1 May 2006 means at least some of the uncertainty is over. But the 1 May start date is likely to catch some operators, drivers and dealers on the wrong foot.
"Importantly, demand for road freight is strong and the trends show no real signs of weakening. Low-emission zones, truck toll taxes and local congestion charging may distort the market from time to time, but unless we all stop shopping we'll see a healthy and generally stable market for a long time yet."