Truck sales still climbing
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• Truck sales in Europe and the UK are more buoyant than ever despite the October crash, says independent industry analyst DRI Europe.
Markets in southern Europe and Britain finished 1987 strongly and are expected to break forecast sales in 1988. Now registrations of trucks over 3.5 tonnes in the UK will rise above 60,500, although this is a "fairly conservative estimate".
The report, European Truck Update, predicts that the market will fall after summer as investment spending slows, and the downturn will continue into 1989. This is off-set, however, by strong orders in the first three months of 1988 which have meant manufacturers revising their forecasts upwards. The figure is a 5% rise over 1987, when 58,000 vehicles were registered.
The van market in the UK will increase slowly compared with 1987, from 238,000 to 240,000.
Forecasts for truck sales vary across Europe, however. Sweden, Holland and West Germany could face weaker markets.
Total production of commercial vehicles in Western Europe will fall by 3.4% to 1.459 million in 1988 and will fall another 1.4% to 1.438 million the following year.