New truck market endures a grim first quarter

Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show that the UK truck market declined by one-third in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same period last year, when in turn it had dropped 15 per cent on 2012’s first three months.

Just 5,682 new trucks of six tones gross weight and more were registered in the period, compared to 8,361 during Quarter One of 2013.

The market is suffering from the aftermath of the Euro 5 run-out, which saw a staggering 10,700 new trucks registered in December.

There was little joy for any of the manufacturers, with all posting declining volumes with the exception of Renault Trucks, which was the one manufacturer not to enjoy a boom in sales in the latter part of last year.

Instead, it started off 2014 as market leader in January, with a large number of the all-new Euro 6 Range T trucks appearing on the road. By the end of March it had put 668 new trucks on the road.

Of the mainstream manufacturers, it is MAN that has suffered the most with new truck registrations declining by nearly 55 per cent to just 410 units. DAF is also feeling the pain; the market-leader’s volume fell by 52 per cent to 1091 giving it just over 19 per cent of the market.

Second-place Mercedes-Benz is doing better by comparison, registering 929 trucks (down by just under 22 per cent) to give it over 16 per cent of the market.

Industry figures are confident that this decline is all about Euro 6, and point to healthy increases in demand for vans (up 16 per cent) and light trucks (up over 11 per cent) as true indications of the growing level of demand for transport services in the recovering economy.