The heavy commercial vehicle market fell 39 per cent in January following the introduction of Euro 6 emissions rules, according the figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
A total of 1,460 trucks were registered in January 2014 compared with 2,397 in January last year. The fall was expected as operators completed their fleet purchases ahead of the E6 legislation. The market from trucks over six tonnes was up 237 per cent in December compared to a year earlier.
Most manufacturers reported big drops in registrations in January. The exception was Renault which saw a 143 per cent increase with 316 registrations. This was enough to give it market leadership for the month.
While the truck market was down, the van market remained buoyant with registrations up almost 13 per cent on last year. Ford, Citroen, Peugeot and Mercedes all saw significant increases in registrations.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “As expected, the pre-Euro-6 rush at the end of last year dented truck volumes in January – a market factor we expect to continue for some months. Looking ahead, SMMT is confident that van registrations will continue to grow at a sustainable rate, while truck demand should level out over the full year.”
