Ford share up
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FORD recovered some of its former glory with its Cargo sales last month, scoring a six per cent leap in market share of the over-3.5 tonne sector, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
After many months in which the Cargo's leadership of this crucial sector has been eroded, it leapt from a 20.3 per cent share of 5,201 lorries sold in August last year to 26.7 per cent of 5,558 last month.
Overall, all commercial vehicle sales climbed from 27,937 in August 1982 to 34,513 last month, fuelled largely by a continued growth of the light van markets.
Figures for the year to date show a more realistic measure of activity in the market, with all sales up by 18 per cent, and the over-3.5 tonne sector up by 7.6 per cent from 30,571 to 32,887. Ford's share of this is down slightly from 22.2 to 21 per cent, but it is still firmly in the lead.
Leyland, which enjoyed an early boost to its sales in March when it registered all its nonType Approved stock of lorries, is still in second place, with sales up from 12.7 to 14.6 per cent. But its early chances of catching up with Ford look less promising, as last month's climb was only from 12.2 to 12.4 per cent of the market.
All manufacturers quote figures which show their products in particularly favourable lights, and Leyland is highlighting its growth of Freighter sales in the 7.5 to 14.5-tonne sub-sector, where penetration has climbed from seven to 12 per cent. It attributes this to intensive promotion in May and June.
Otherwise, the trends of earlier in the year are still being borne out, with Bedford slipping from 14.2 to 12.3 per cent in the first eight months of the year, Karrier from 11.1 to 9.8, and Mercedes-Benz climbing from 7.7 to 11.3 per cent.
Iveco's record share -of 6.6 last month (CM, September 10) has been confirmed, and its share for the year to date is up from
five to 5.1 per cent. Volvo is up from 7.5 to 7.8 per cent for the year to date, and Seddon Atkinson still awaiting a definitive statement on its future is down from 3.9 to 3.5 per cent, with sales last month down from four to two per cent.
Medium and heavy van sales are climbing faster, with sales last month up from 12,814 in August 1982 to 15,458. The Ford Transit is still absolute market leader, with 29.3 per cent of the market (1982: 32.9 per cent). Transit's 1983 share so far is 35.7 per cent (1982: 44.7 per cent).
Freight Rover Sherpa sales, still some weeks short of having the 3.5-tonne larger model which the company believes it needs to win more business, are being boosted by fleet business. It won 8.3 per cent of the market last month, and 12.2 per cent of the first eight months' business (1982: 9 per cent).
Bedford's sales last month fell from 20.6 to 12.4 per cent, and the effect would have been more severe had it not been for a rise in its imports of Japanese Isuzu pick-ups. They climbed from 0.1 to 1.1 per cent. In the year to date, Bedford's sales have fallen from 13.5 to 11.3 per cent, the lsuzu share having risen from 0.8 to 0.9 per cent.
Ford is still top in the car-derived van sector, taking 32.8 per cent of the sales this year (1982: 36.4 per cent), ahead of Austin Rover's increasing sales of 28.8 per cent (1982: 26.2 per cent).
111 increased commercial vehicle sales are being depressed by poor export business for British manufacturers, and the average production per month this year was down from last year's 22,700 to 18,100 for the year to August 27.