Van registrations shows signs of weakening – NFDA

New van registrations declined by 4.5 per cent in October, showing the first signs in 2016 of weakening. In year to date figures, the market remains two per cent higher than 2015, with a total of 318,664 units registered in the first ten months of 2016: the best performance on record.

“The new light commercial vehicle market remains strong year to date, although October saw a fall back in demand”, said Sue Robinson, director of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers across the UK, commenting on the SMMT’s commercial vehicle registration figures.

“Unusually, large vans of 2.5-3.5t registrations decreased by 7.1 per cent for the first time since July 2013. Positively, this segment is still up 8.2 per cent compared with 2015 and continues to represent the largest commercial vehicle sector accounting for 62 per cent of total registrations this year.

“The ‘pick-up’ market performed well with a growth of 17.8 per cent in October and surprisingly the mid-size, 2.0-2.5t, market also rose by 19.6 per cent. These vehicles are usually used in the service industry.

“Following very positive results in the first three quarters of the year, there is a general feeling amongst dealers that this is just a temporary slowdown in the market, which overall remains strong.”