Registrations of new pick-ups fall in July as overall market recovers

Date: Friday, August 4, 2017 |

Registrations of new pick-ups fell for the first time in 16 months in July, figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have revealed.

According to the SMMT, 2,870 pick-ups were registered last month, a decline of 9.5% compared with July 2016’s figures. Prior to this, the pick-up market had been growing rapidly thanks to a raft of new product launches in the last couple of years.

However, registrations of pick-ups in the first seven months of the year are still ahead compared with comparable figures from 2016, up by 14.8% to 29,920 units.

The van market as a whole recovered from declines earlier this year, growing by 1.1% last month, the SMMT said.

According to the SMMT, 24,766 vans joined Britain’s roads last month, with the 2.0-2.5t category growing the most with registrations up by 41.4% compared with July 2016 to 4,837 units.

The biggest sector in terms of volume – vans weighing between 2.5-3.5t – fell by 2.8% to 14,831 units, while registrations of vans weighing less than 2.0-tonnes dropped by 12.5% to 2,212 units.

In the first seven months of 2017, 209,692 vans have been registered, a fall of 3.1% compared with the same period of 2016.

“Although the market is experiencing a moderate decline, the volumes of new vans being registered in the UK are still at incredibly high levels and in line with our expectations for 2017,” said Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive. “While it is positive to see stable demand in July, as this follows a period of significant growth we anticipate that the market will continue to moderate, reaching more sustainable levels over the next months.”

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