The commercial vehicle market showed signs of revival in October with a 66 per cent rise in truck registrations.
The market has been in the doldrums since the start of the year following the move to Euro 6 environmental regulations.
SMMT chief Mark Hawes warned that the October figure should be treated with caution.
“October marks the first month of 2014 in which truck registrations have seen positive growth, given the paucity of demand following the introduction of Euro-6. While encouraging, we should treat such a sharp percentage increase with caution, owing to a relatively small total market and new type approval regulations coming into force at the end of the month.”
The year-to-date figure for trucks over 6 tonnes is 9.2 per cent down on last year at 35,842 units.
DAF is market leader with a share of 25.45 per cent, followed by Mercedes on 17.98 per cent. All the manufacturers have seen sales fall on last year, but Iveco has seen its registrations hold up most strongly with a fall of just 2.85 per cent on last year.
The van market continued its strong performance, with an 18.2 per cent rise in October to 26,570 units. It was up 18.1 per cent for the year-to-date.
