Business confidence boosts January van sales

Ford was the top sellling brand with over twice as many sales as the next best seller

WE’RE told that the economy is picking up, and it seems a good start to the New Year for van sales is bearing this out. You were certainly in the mood to buy – van sales increased in January by 12.9%, on the back of ‘robust business confidence’, says the SMMT.

And this optimism has helped boost sales for the 12-month period to January 2014 by 13.2%. Total sales during the month reached 18,122 light commercials under 3.5 tonnes.

Ford topped the sales charts with 4866 registrations followed by Volkswagen at 2300 units. Citroen came in third at 1974 LCVs sold, with Vauxhall close behind, registering 1868 vehicles.

Vans were the star performers in the overall commercial vehicle market as truck registrations stalled following the move to Euro-6, although the rolling total for the year is up 22.6%.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes told Business Vans: “The overall commercial vehicle market grew 4.4% in January as more robust business confidence boosted van registrations. As expected, the pre-Euro-6 rush at the end of last year dented truck volumes in January – a market factor we expect to continue for some months. SMMT is confident that van registrations will continue to grow at a sustainable rate, while truck demand should level out over the full year.”