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Winners and losers
Page 24
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UK commercial vehicle sales above 3.5 tonnes hit near record leve in 2003. Here we review the best and worst performers and ask why the market refused to decline as the pundits expected.
Cast your minds back 12 months and industry observers were predicting a declining truck market in the year ahead. Faced with war, unpredictable oil prices and an unsteady economy, those in the know reckoned the market was set for a further fall from the 2002 registrations. which were already down 6.6% from the record level of 2001.
Some feared a decline as big as 10% -but the pundits were wrong. Figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers andTraders (SMMT) show that 55.590 CVs over 3.5 tonnes were registered last year. That's 7.1% (3670 units) up on 2002, so, far from declining, the market climbed to near record level& The war, though important, didn't impact on the UK consumer as expected; the rocketing oil prices which were expected to accompany the conflict failed to materialise. and through it all the UK consumer kept consuming. The result? A demand for more trucks and vans to meet the needs of the economy.
But is it really as simple as that? The experts at Iveco reckon the market itself has gone through a hefty restructuring over the past five years or so: "Behind this is the growth in contract hire and leasing," says Iveco's director of commercial communication&Nigel Emms. "This has had a stabilising effect on the market. Contracts are for defined terms, so contract defines replacement cycles; now driving the market."
This point is reinforced by fact that CV sales over the seven years averaged 52319 have remained fairly stable.
Market performance With strong growth in the ma: most of the truck importer the UK enjoyed equally sti sales during 2003. Over past five years the industry