CV sales up slightly in September

SMMT figures show that commercial vehicle sales in September rose slightly – the 43,787 sales represented a rise of 0.8 per cent. Van registrations for the month were 39,060; up 1.1 per cent, but truck sales were down 1.5 per cent to 4,727 units.

Taking the year to date figures however, van registrations are down 6.3 per cent at 187,067 units, while truck registrations are up 16 per cent at 34,371 units. Combining the figures gives an overall YTD fall of 3.4 per cent.

“The September plate change provided enough of a boost to stabilise van demand in a challenging economic environment,” said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. “Continuing the trend seen so far this year, light rigids performed strongly in the month growing 23.4 per cent, while light vans and pickups reversed recent declines, recording rises of 8.8 per cent and 17.2 per cent respectively.”