All segments rise but the big bangers are leading the way
The Truck Industry Council (TIC) has underlined the role of the heavy duty segment in driving commercial vehicle sales growth in November.
With its T-Mark sales figures showing growth across the board, it has picked up on the heavy brigade’s “massive” 33.7 per cent rise for the month compared to November 2016.
This was followed by the medium duty truck segment which was up 20 per cent, closely followed by light duty trucks up 19.5 per cent and vans, up by 10.1 per cent when compared to this time last year.
The light duty van segment has been a bit of a roller coaster ride this year. However, sales continue to track above 2016 levels year-to-date.
A total of 511 new vans were sold for the month of November, up 47 units over the November 2016 result. Year-to-date a total of 5,384 vans have been delivered to the end of November 2017, up 8.3 per cent, or 414 vans, compared with the same period last year.
“It was again heartening to witness strong, double digit, sales growth across all heavy vehicle segments in November,” TIC president Phil Taylor says.
“The strong sales seen across the first three quarters of 2017 have continued into the final quarter of the year.”
He adds that, with just December sales to come, “the industry won’t see the 2007 sales record broken, but I think that we will witness the second best result ever and the best heavy vehicle sales in over a decade”.
TIC CEO Tony McMullan concurred about the likely performance this year but next year held more promise on that score.
“With only one month remaining in 2017, we will not be rewriting the history books this year, however the market is at a very high level and we may see record sales in 2018,” McMullan says.