Legislation drives CV registrations and tyre uptake, says Continental 09 December 2014

New commercial vehicle registrations in 2014 have been "predictably slow", says Continental UK commercial marketing manager Tracey Hyem, blaming Euro 6 legislation, introduced in January.

Speaking at a pre-Christmas media briefing, Hyem described the results for 2014 as unsurprising, due in part to the rush to register Euro 5 trucks before the legislative cut-off dates.

Year-to-date figures released by the SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) have shown that total registrations for trucks this year are down 9%, with bus and coach registrations also down, by 3%.

Despite this, the month of October saw truck registrations jump by around 70%, which Hyem and others all attribute largely to the introduction of European Community whole vehicle type approval (WVTA) on N2 and N3 vehicles, which came into force on 29 October.

"WVTA requires any new commercial vehicle to have an approval certificate for both the truck and body before registration... The spike seen in October indicates the natural rush to beat its introduction," states Hyem.

In contrast, she notes an increase in trailer production of more than 20%, compared to 2013 figures, and 45% compared to 2012.

Hyem says that's because of a buoyant UK economy driving demand, as well as older trailers that should have been replaced during the recession now being in desperate need of renewal.

Turning her attention to the UK tyre market, Hyem explains that the replacement market has once again seen an increase in 2014, following on from last year's strong results. "We are forecasting an increase of around 8% on 2013 in the UK," she says.

The Republic of Ireland paints a slightly different picture with forecasts suggesting the Irish market will finish 5% down on 2013. However this could be ascribed to a surge in imports of European brands, which are not recorded in the statistics as Irish sales.

Regional tyres continue to dominate both the UK and Irish market, accounting for 83% of replacement new tyre sales in the UK and 86% in Ireland. Long distance tyres represent around 7% in both countries, with construction and urban making up 10% of the UK market and 6% in Ireland.

However, despite urban applications featuring as the smallest sector of the market, 2014 has seen its share increase by 20%, she says.

Meanwhile, Hyem reveals that there have been no significant changes in the top five tyre sizes sold.

"In the UK the top five sizes make up 71% of sales in 2014 and 81% in Ireland. We do however expect to see changes to the most dominant sizes in the future. We predict 315/70 22.5 to move into the top five driven by the increase in Euro 6 vehicles, which we expect will replace 295/80 22.5 to cope with the extra weight."

That said, Continental Tyres is completing further research on tyre trends, and while the full results are still some weeks away, Hyem suggests there will be a "significant increase" in the number of fleets likely to fit tyre pressure monitoring systems next year.

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Continental Tyre Group Ltd

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