The SMMT believe this small decline reflects “a return to business as usual following exceptional demand in the same month last year, driven by impending regulatory changes”.
Figures for the year-to-date show overall growth of 16.7%, compared with 2014, with a total of 355,301 vehicles registered.
The van market continued its upward trend, with demand rising 6.2%, compared with October 2014. 312,369 new vans have been registered so far in this year – 16.3% more than at this time last year.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes believes that result is due to steadily increasing business confidence in the UK and, in particular, “the ever-growing popularity of online shopping”.
Meanwhile, truck registrations remained strong, up by nearly one fifth year-to-date, with 42,932 new vehicles registered in the first 10 months of 2015.
Last year’s (2014) spike in heavy-duty vehicle registrations in October coincided with the change to type approval rules for Euro 6 bodied vehicles. Hence the 31.5% reduction in registrations for this month year-on-year.
“The van and truck market remains strong, with remarkable growth across all commercial vehicle types so far this year,” comments Hawes.
“The rise in demand for vans demonstrates an ongoing trend as more consumers choose the convenience of home delivery,” he continues.
And referring to this month’s decline in truck year-on-year truck registrations, he adds: “To put this into context, at 5,791 registrations, this October’s performance is more than double the average monthly total of 2,720 delivered by the market since 2001.”
Interestingly, the detailed figures in SMMT’s data also shows that six wheeler tractors still saw 1% growth against October 2014, with the declines being seen in two-axle tractors (-14.2%), rigids over 16 tonnes (-51.5%) and rigids between 6.0 and 16 tonnes (-48.8%).
DAF Trucks is again the market leader in the over 6 tonnes range, with 1,490 registrations last month, followed by Mercedes at 897, Scania at 845, Volvo at 632, MAN at 475, Iveco at 34 and Renault at 323.