UK new truck market on road to recovery

Last year saw the UK’s new heavy truck market begin to return to normal after worldwide disruptions from Covid lockdowns and component shortages. 40,716 vehicles over six tonnes GVW were registered in 2022 – a 9.6 per cent rise against 2021 – according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT).

While this figure is still over 16 per cent lower than 2019’s (the last ‘normal’ year), the second half of 2022 actually exceeded the second half of 2019 in volume terms.

Recovery was driven by demand for tractor units, up by nearly 22 per cent to over 19,000 vehicles – while the increase in rigids was a marginal 0.3 per cent to a total of 21,302. Curtainsiders and box vans saw growth within the rigid truck segment, while reg­istrations of tippers, dropsides and RCVs all declined.

Mike Hawes, chief executive at SMMT, said the fig­ures demonstrated “an increasing appetite to invest, with deliveries enabled by the easing of supply and logistics disruptions”.

He continued: “As manufacturers deliver more zero emission vehicles to market, there must be policy cer­tainty and infrastructure assurance to inspire further fleet renewal. This will be essential to the UK’s ability to deliver its decarbonisation agenda, while keeping the British economy and society on the move.”

DAF announced that it had taken a record 32.1 per cent share of the UK vehicle market in the over-6t bracket, with 13,068 vehicles registered; and much of its 13 per cent increase in volume was driven by demand for the new XF, XG and XG+ tractors.

The company said its order board for 2023 was full, and that it believed recent supply-chain dis­ruption had eased considerably. “While lead times remain relatively long, reliability on delivery times is stabilising,” it said.

Volvo Trucks reported a record year globally, includ­ing “all-time high volumes and a heavy truck market share increase in 41 countries”.

The marque had registered 5,906 trucks over 6t in the UK, and said it enjoyed “exception­al demand” for its medium and heavy-duty range. It came in sec­ond in the UK truck market, with a 14.5 per cent share – up 18.1 per cent against last year.

Christian Coolsaet, managing director of Volvo Trucks UK & Ire­land, said: “It’s been an incredible year for product demand, when you consider supply chain short­ages have prevailed across the industry.

“Despite this, our teams have worked hard to deliver as many new vehicles to customers as pos­sible, and this shows by the de­gree to which we’ve outperformed the market.”

He continued: “Spiralling fuel prices over the last 12 months mean more operators are prioritis­ing fuel efficiency in their purchas­ing decisions than ever before, and that’s naturally brought a lot of new customers to our door.”

Volvo’s sister company Renault Trucks announced that it had recorded a year-on-year vehicle sales growth of 18.4 per cent which it reported was “the highest of all manufacturers and nearly double the average market increase of 9.6 per cent”.

James Charnock, commercial director at Renault Trucks UK & Ireland, commented: “For five consecutive years, Renault Trucks has grown its MHD market share, with significant acceleration in more recent years.”
Factors cited by Mr Charnock as contributors to Renault’s success included investment and expansion in the dealer network, and positive reception by drivers and operators to development in its product offering.

Figures were also released by SMMT for new bus and coach registrations last year, which fell slightly against 2021 by 1.6 per cent, 3,411 new vehicles having been registered. Relatively low passenger numbers continued to place PSV operators under “significant financial constraints on fleet renewal,” SMMT said.