Soaraway Ford’s van sales best in 30 years – up 22% for year

THE British commercial vehicle market is booming with Ford’s van sales best in 30 years and more than double its nearest rivals as confident SMEs invest in their fleets.

For November 2015 the SMMT’s figures show van registrations up 9.6% in the month, and they says it’s continuing the general trend seen over the past few years with SME businesses having grown in confidence and online deliveries surging in popularity.

In fact the CV sector is so strong that Ford’s Transit range is second to Fiesta in overall vehicle sales and Transit Custom fifth in the overall charts.  Ford CV sales are at the highest level since 1986 and more than double those of its nearest rival.

In the light CVs sector (under 3.5t), Ford’s 8,744 units in November was followed in second place by Vauxhall (3,414), at the expense of Volkswagen which slipped back to third (3,113), although still second for the year on 40,610 to Ford’s 92,311 and Vauxhall’s 37,879.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “The commercial vehicle market continues to demonstrate phenomenal progress, with sustained growth over a number of years as ever-more confident businesses invest in their fleets.”

Andy Barratt, Ford of Britain chairman and managing director, said:  “The UK market’s robust growth was evident across all sectors in November, and it is particularly rewarding to see Ford’s strengthening its leadership position by a significant margin.

“This is the benefit of ongoing investment in exciting products and industry-leading technologies, both in cars and CVs. ”

UK commercial vehicle sales in November were up 15.2% at 33,843, compared with November 2014.  At 9,014, total sales of Ford CVs were up 23.7%, compared with November 2014.  For the year to date, total UK CV sales were up 16.2% at 394,011, compared with the same period in 2014.  Total sales of Ford CVs for the year to date were up 22.4% at 98,191, compared with 2014.

Ford light commercials sales for November were up from 1,614 to 1,963 and share up from 22.0% to 31.0%, compared with November 2014.  For the year to date Ford LCV sales were up from 16,203 to 21,502, against 2014.

Ford medium commercials sales for November were up from 5,673 to 7,051 and share up from 29.0% to 30.1%, compared with November 2014.  For the year to date Ford MCV sales were up from 63,989 to 76,689, compared with the same period in 2014.

The full availability of Ford’s extended CV family has helped deliver this strong sales momentum:  Fiesta Van, Transit Connect, Transit Custom, Transit and Ranger all lead their respective market segments.