Although impressive at first glance, the massive uptick in new truck registrations follows a significant dip in registrations in November 2014 following the type approval changes for bodied trucks and the massive rise in sales figures last year ahead of that development.
That explanation also holds good in the detailed figures, which show by far the greatest growth in registrations for rigids over 16 tonnes – at 331.6% – followed by rigids between 6 and 16 tonnes, which saw 230.6% growth.
Two axle trucks also witnessed 83.7% growth.
Year to date numbers for all rigids categories show an improvement of 16.7% against 2014, with 28,375 registered, while tractors were up 31.9% overall, at 18,809, with three-axle units taking the vast majority.
Altogether, 33,303 commercial vehicles were registered in the month, an increase of 13.9%, with 4,252 trucks and 29,051 vans.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes notes that the CV market returned to strong growth in November after the dip in the previous month, due to growing business confidence.
“The commercial vehicle market continues to demonstrate phenomenal progress, with sustained growth over a number of years as ever more confident businesses invest in their fleets,” comments Hawes.
“The sharp upturn in truck registrations comes as no surprise, given the heavy fall seen in the same month last year,” he continues.
“But the long-term trend of robust growth is encouraging.”
In the over 6 tonne category, DAF Trucks remains number one, with Mercedes-Benz second, followed by Scania, Volvo, MAN, Iveco and then Renault.