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Healthy start to the year
Page 22
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2005 sees a milestone for Ford says Gary Whittam — 40 years of assembly in Britain and the prospect of another record year for the core sector.
MANUFACTURER'S VIEW Gary Whittam, Ford commercial vehicles director It is a great opportunity to talk about the commercial vehicle market in a month when the Ford Transit reaches an enviable milestone— 40 years of assembly in Britain and the 40" year of clear market leadership.
In the first six months of 2005 we have seen a healthy 2.5% growth in the overall commercial vehicle market. While the light van sector, in which the Transit Connect SWB and Fiesta Van compete, has shown some weakness, most of this has been in estate car vans and microvans — peripheral segments that are clearly diminishing in favour of the integrated style vans that now account for more than 80% of the light van sector.
The medium van sector grew a healthy 3,9% in the first half of 2005, driven by pickups, and small vans. This shows the market is essentially sound. For Ford, year-on-year total Transit and Ranger sales are up, while Transit Connect and Fiesta Van continue to build a growing customer base, underpinned by solid class-leading residuals.
Our outlook for the second half of the year reflects a 2-3% market decline. External factors, such as the consumer spending slowdown following interest rate rises. are, in turn, leading to a weaker demand for commercial vehicles. These conditions will bring an interesting sales month in September as manufacturers rise to the challenge of bringing to the market great value products that businesses are prepared to invest in.
Having said this, 2005 will probably be yet another record year for the core medium sector at around 230,000 units. This is more than double the annual market level of the early 1990s. •