Ford remains top of the commercial vehicle sales charts in June, with the Ford Transit continuing to lead the way in its 46th year

Ford Transit: 46 years and still top of van sales

Business confidence sees Transit stay on top of June’s van sales charts

FORD continued to rule the roost as the commercial vehicle sector underlined its recovery with another upward graph on van sales under 3.5t in June.

The SMMT reports that van sales were up 13.5% to 22,850 and up by 23.8% to 248,883 on a rolling year basis.

“June saw the 17th successive monthly rise for new van registrations, up by 13% in the month, demonstrating business confidence and commitment in the commercial vehicle market,” said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive.

For Ford, it’s the 46th year the Transit has been the best-selling commercial vehicle in the UK.

However, against this background of rising demand for new vans and business confidence, small businesses continue to suffer problems of late payment from suppliers.

Almost three quarters (73%) of businesses have been paid late in the last 12 months, according to a new paper by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

In the past 12 months, 56 per cent of members have written-off invoices worth between £1 and £9,999 because of non-payment, while six per cent of FSB members in the construction sector have written off £35,000 or more – suggesting van sales could be even stronger if businesses and traders were paid more timely.

The SMMT said that van registrations have recovered strongly from the depths of recession in late 2009 and early 2010, while underlying van registration volume was back to 250,000 units, compared to annual average of 265,000 (over 15 years 1996 to 2010).

Top 10 selling van makers in June

1 Ford
2 Vauxhall
3 Volkswagen
4 Peugeot
5 Renault
6 Citroen
7 Mercedes
8 Nissan
9 Mitsubishi
10 Fiat
Source: SMMT light commercial registrations under 3.5t

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