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Cautious • •
Page 63
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optimism
There have been more lows than highs for March's CV registration figures, though the market overall is pointing towards a positive
year. Julian Milnes reports.
March's CV registrations saw varied results across the board—medium vans made the biggest impact, increasing 74.7% compared with the same tine last year. However, there was a significant do .vnturn in truck registrations, which dropped 25.5% over the same period.
There was some cause for optimism as the picture overall remained steady; total registrations falling just 1.2% to 379,083.
(verall light CV registrations dipped by 0.7 %, thanks in part to the arrival of a raft of new models from the main manufacturers as well as a buoyant medium van sector, whose success for the month was attributable to vehicles previously categorised as light vans— such as Vauxhall's Astra and Volkswagen's Caddy —moving up into the class.
Structural moves
Christopher Macgowan, SMMT chief executive, says: We're seeing structural changes in the van market as some previously ligit vans move into the medium sector and soihe operators use heavy vans as a more convenient alternative to heavier trucks".
Standout performers were Toyota, with an increase of 71°X, over the previous year (thanks in part to its new Hilux); and Fiat, up 28.8%.
-this was in contrast to Nissan,which dropped by 14.8% despite the success of its Navara pickup.
Moving up into heavy CVs, the overall decrease in registrations was significant at 255% but did not accurately reflect the market due to two noteworthy pieces of legislation.
First, the introduction of digital tachographs had a pull-through effect as operators registered before the new technology became mandatory. Macgowan says: "Truck registration comparisons with last spring are of limited value as the bungled introduction of digital tachographs on 1 May 2006 caused massive market distortion in the months immediately before."
This distortion was compounded by the introduction of the Euro-4 emissions standard, with operators again jumping the gun to register new vehicles last year before it came into force.
As regards individual manufacturers, the most notable by some way was Japanese manufacturer Nino —which is making a good fist of replacing the gap left by Foden.
Conversely, the heavy hitters such as Scania and Volvo suffered notable reductions — 34.6% and 38.4% respectively. However this dip should be only temporary as operators take the inevitable plunge into the new technology arena.
Macgowan adds: "Overall, the immediate economic outlook is quite bright and we're confident that this will be another good year." •