Ford rides the bumps
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IT'S an up and down year so far for the commercial vehicle industry. After the success in January when commercial vehicle sales in the UK were 26 per cent higher than the previous January, sales were down again in February.
At 16,125 they were 7.9 per cent lower than the same month last year.
Worst hit in the lorry sector were medium and heavy vans (14 per cent down) while light vans and trucks and artics were each four per cent lower.
Against this background of decline, imported vehicles had a good month in the UK and increased their market share in February to 35 per cent compared with 28 per cent in February 1981, In the truck and artic sector imported vehicles took just 21 per cent of the market in February 1981; last month this was up to 33 per cent. In this category Leyland Vehicles and Bedford experienced sharp drops when compared with the same month last year and Ford also suffered to a lesser extent. ERF and Seddon Atkinson showed worthwhile improvements.
Looking at the complete UK commercial vehicle market last month, Ford remains the market leader with a 25 per cent share (compared with 30 per cent last February), followed by Leyland with 21 per cent and Bedford, with its GM stablemates, with 15 per cent.