This contributed to year-to-date volumes 7% above 2012 at 190,159 units.
Vans rose 11.1% with 10,344 registrations in the month and remained 9.4% up for the January-August period with 161,938 registrations.
According to SMMT, truck demand also grew 29% in the month, continuing the reversal of fortunes seen in the first half of 2013 and improving year-to-date performance, now down just 4.8% at 28,221 units.
‘The commercial vehicle industry can take heart from a respectable performance in August with customers boosting registrations by almost 15%,’ said Nigel Base, commercial vehicle manager at SMMT.
‘For vans, August is always a quieter month ahead of the September plate-change but the 9.4% year-to-date rise in volumes is set to be maintained through to year end. We predicted a turn-around in truck fortunes through the second half of this year and the robust performance in August is a signal that volumes should catch and pass 2012 totals,’ he added.
UK van and truck registrations: 2013 and % change on 2012
|
|
August |
% change |
Year-to-date |
% change |
Rolling year |
% change |
|
Vans |
10,344 |
11.1% |
161,938 |
9.4% |
253,572 |
2.6% |
|
Trucks |
3,107 |
29.0% |
28,221 |
-4.8% |
44,279 |
-7.3% |
|
Total |
13,451 |
14.8% |
190,159 |
7.0% |
297,851 |
1.0% |