August regos build

The month of August saw positive growth recorded for all commercial vehicle categories compared to the same month last year, but it was medium- and light-duty trucks and vans making the bulk of the progress, with the heavy-duty segment essentially holding steady.

The latest Truck Industry Council T-MARK data shows a total of 2729 new commercial vehicles were registered in August, the figure up 6.9% on August last year, while stripping away the 469 van registrations gives a monthly total of 2260 trucks, and growth of 4.3%.

That brings the year-to-date total to 20,523 commercial vehicles (growth of 4.9%) but again, strip away the 3738 van registrations and the truck market has held its ground, posting a marginal increase of just 0.8%.

While the heavy-duty segment did post a slight rise of 0.7% for the month versus August 2014, the 6328 vehicles registered year to date represents a drop of 7.6% on this time last year.

The 612 medium-duty trucks registered in August represent strong growth of 9.3%, but the year-to-date tally of 4259 units equates with more modest growth of 1.9%.

There were 804 light-duty trucks registered last month – growth of 4.6% – but the 6198 units registered year to date equates with a surge of 10.3%.

The truly massive gains continue in the van market, however. Some 469 new vans were registered last month, which is 21.8% more than the same month last year, the figure pushing the year-to-date total to 3738. That's 28.1% more than the previous corresponding period.

Tony McMullan, CEO of the Truck Industry Council, said the figures were in line with the longer-term prevailing trend.

“The August truck industry sales result reflects the broader economy where business confidence continues to be patchy," he said.

"While the overall numbers for the year are up on those for the same period in 2014 the growth has come at the light-duty end of the market, reflecting where companies are prepared to spend their capital investment funds.

"I am, however, pleased to see that heavy truck sales were up, albeit only slightly, over the month of August 2014 and I hope that this is the start of a permanent turnaround in the sales trend in this segment.”

See the tables below for a summary of the top five manufacturers in each category, based on year-to-date registrations…

AUGUST 2015 YEAR-TO-DATE REGISTRATIONS (OVERALL)

AUGUST 2015 YEAR-TO-DATE REGISTRATIONS (HEAVY DUTY)

AUGUST 2015 YEAR-TO-DATE REGISTRATIONS (MEDIUM DUTY)

AUGUST 2015 YEAR-TO-DATE REGISTRATIONS (LIGHT DUTY)

AUGUST 2015 YEAR-TO-DATE REGISTRATIONS (LIGHT-DUTY VAN)