Following an increase in van sales in May the market has turned yet again with June registrations down by 2.5 per cent compared to May’s rise of 6.7 % that had been the first rise in 2012.

The sale of vans have reduced in JuneThere were 22,287 vans registered in June with the figure for the rolling year also dropping to minus 0.9 per cent from a figure of plus 0.4 per cent. However the biggest cause for concern was the year to date figure dropping by 10.1 per cent that perhaps reflects how strong the market was in 2011.

Paul Everitt, Chief Executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said: “The trend for the commercial vehicle market is generally stable, but it is far from settled and is likely to follow the course of the UK and European economy in the second half of the year.”

Some good news in these figures was in the 2.5 tonne to 3.5 tonne sector that saw an increase of 8.1 per cent with 13,323 vans being registered.

However the sector for vans below 2 tonnes saw the biggest slide to only 3,786 vans that was a 22.3 per cent reduction.

Obviously these figures do give cause for concern having seen the increase in May. Perhaps van drivers are, like many people in the UK, cutting back in view of the current economic climate. Maybe drivers of vans are holding on to their vehicles for longer than what they would normally do or perhaps they may be changing a 5-year-old van for a 2-year-old van whereas in the past they have bought a new van.

Of course, if a van fleet operator decides to hold onto their 1,000 fleet of vans for a little longer rather than buy new ones that will have a significant impact on these figures.

It will be interesting to look at the figures for July and August to see if the impact of things like expenditure on summer holidays is reflected in the figures for van sales.

Source: The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders – July 2012