:v sales graph rising
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GROWTH of commercial icle sales has continued 3ngly according to the iety of Motor Manufacturers Traders' sales figures for the half of this year.
ter since the low point in I commercial vehicle sales a been steadily picking up during the first six months ris year they totalled 138,212 .",.h is 17.3 per cent up on the le period of last year. June a particularly good month sales no less than 28 per ; higher than June 1982.
roking at the first half of 3, imported vehicles have le further inroads into the sh market and now hold 32.9 cent, compared with 28.5 per : for the same period last -. For the British manufacturBL has achieved substanly increased sales in all cle classes.
he market sector that has ieved the most spectacular wth in the first six months of year is car-derived vans, rrding a 25 per cent increase each 44,876. British-built Est vans and Spanish-built rta vans combined to give d a total of 14,405 (32 per t of the market), just ahead of r 13,435. The Astra van red Bedford into third place 8,671.
oving up a class to the men/heavy vans the success of Ford P100 pick-up since its UK launch last June has complemented Transit sales to give Ford a commanding 43.4 per cent of this sector. The Sherpa has been good for Freight Rover with sales up from 4,832 in the first half of last year (9.3 per cent) to 7,690 (12.7 per cent).
The importers did particularly well in this van class, increasing their market share from 29.2 per cent to 40.2 per cent. Top van importer was MAN-VW but its sales slipped slightly from 4,902 to 4,543 so far this year while all other manufacturers — UK and imported — recorded increased van sales.
Truck and artic sales were up by just 7.8 per cent in the first six months of this year and once again the importers made further headway to reach 7,567, worth 30.8 per cent of the market; they had 27.4 per cent for
the equivalent period last year. Ford retained its class leadership but with a reduced share (19.6 per cent compared with 23.3 per cent last year) and its sales actually fell from 5,297 to 4,822.
Closing the gap in the truck and artic sector was Leyland in second place with a much-improved 3,701 (15.1 per cent) and then Bedford with a slightly better figure of 3,143 (12.8 per cent). Fourth place went to the top truck and artic importer, Mercedes-Benz with an excellent 2,487 (10.1 per cent), just squeezing out Karrier (combined Dodge and Renault) whose sales slipped marginally from 2,588 down to 2,456.
Magirus Deutz and MAN truck and artic sales are also down so far this year.
Light 4x4 vehicles are still managing to find a growing market and sales were 20.7 per cent up to reach 5,978 by the end of June. Single-handed, the Land Rover fights off imported competitors and held 58.8 per cent of the market (60 per cent in the first half of last year).