News

Sales of new trucks and vans during 2008 turned out to be the classic 'game of two halves', judging by the latest year-end registration figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). An extremely buoyant first half of last year only served to hide the real depth and impact of the current slump in sales of all commercial vehicles, which, in 2008, finished down 10.7% at 346,873. More worryingly, truck and van registrations  for December were down by a massive 22.0%.

Van sales (up to 3.5 tonnes) took the biggest hit in 2008 falling back 14.3% to 289,463 overall (26.6% down in December), although truck sales fared better with registrations for December up by 5.8%, rising overall by 13.1% to 57,410 for the full year.

According to Iveco UK's marketing director Andrea Bucci: "2008 was a unique year. We entered the year with the highest levels of CV demand ever, yet we left it with the lowest levels for a decade!" Last year, registrations of vans between 2.8 and 6.5 tonnes were the second highest ever, reports Bucci, while truck registrations above 3.5 tonnes were the third highest on record.

However, Bucci adds: "By the end of the fourth quarter, van registrations were 29.6% down compared with the same period in 2007, while fourth quarter truck registrations were 11.3% below the equivalent period in '07." Iveco  predicts that total CV registrations in 2009 will settle at around 46,000 units, representing a drop of around 20% compared to 2008.