F&I Management & Training

The economic downturn is hitting the resilience of the van market with August sales tumbling 24.7 per cent, according to the SMMT.Sales for the month fell to 11,508 pushing year to date sales down 4.1 per cent to 203,117 units.Sales in the LCV sector, vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes, have grown each year since 2005 with 337,741 vans registered last year. Sales have been falling this year since April.The SMMT's chief executive said the shortfall continues a trend which the trade body warned would continue."August is traditionally a month for low registrations. That, and the economic situation which is slowing spending, means a big drop in van figures," he said."In the short term van registrations will continue to struggle, though the truck sector is holding total CV figures close to the three-year average. In the longer term we expect an overall and marked downward trend."The downturn has hit Northgate, one of the UK's biggest van rental companies, who said trading conditions are the worst they have been since the early 1990s.As a result it said it has been forced to cut its fleet size this year.The slowdown is also hitting the used sector although Alex Wright, sales director of commercial vehicles at Manheim Auctions, expects the market to stabilise in the short term"The somewhat volatile market we are seeing at the moment will settle down as both vendors and buyers become more familiar and comfortable with the changing trading conditions," he said."Does this mean the worst is over? Not necessarily, but I am convinced the market will settle down in the next few months and we may then begin to see the first signs of stability towards the end of the year."

DATED: 19.09.08

FEED: MT