The SMMT has released the new car registration figures for June, which fell 15.7% to 176,264 units. This decline was the smallest since July 2008, however year to date demand has fallen by 25.9%. The scrappage scheme is the major factor impacting the figures. The market shift to smaller cars continues with the mini and supermini segments doing well. Average CO2 car emissions have fallen to 152.3g/km as a result.

Registrations in June, to private car buyers, also rose for the first time since November 2007 by 3.9%. The Ford Fiesta was again the best selling car for the fifth time this year. The move towards minis and superminis has caused diesel penetration to fall however, as smaller cars tend to be petrol powered.

Paul Everitt, chief executive of the SMMT said, “We are now beginning to see the positive impact of the scrappage scheme translate into new vehicle registrations. SMMT expects the pace of improvement to increase in the coming months, but we can already see the industry making steady progress on the long road to recovery”.

The outlook for vans and trucks is still tough with registrations down overall by 41.2% in June and 34.8% for the rolling year, to 257,809.

-Trucks were down 47.2% and 22.4 YTD to 45,244 for the rolling year.

-Vans down 40.1% for the month and down 37.0% to 212,565 for the rolling year.

Mr Everitt commented on this as follows:” We expect van registrations will stabilise at the end of the next quarter, but at the lowest levels since the 1990′s. Trucks could drop further in the fourth quarter after the Euro 5 emissions deadline passes in October. The commercial vehicle market continues to reflect the very difficult conditions facing business buyers, particularly those in the freight transport and construction sectors”.

Van and truck data – courtesy of the SMMT

TyreSafe, the non-profit organisation dedicated to raising awareness of the dangers of defective and worn tyres, has launched a new truck specific section to its website. MoT failures for HGV’s was recorded at 36.5 per cent in 2007/8, as reported by VOSA, with failure due to defective tyres being the second most common defect.

The new web pages are located at www.tyresafe.org and includes guidance and advice on the importance of tyre pressure, tread depth, wheel alignment, regrooving and tyre disposal, together with details of the common causes of tyre damage and wear. A free truck safety handout can also be downloaded off the site with top tips for correct tyre truck maintenance.

Since the Health and Safety Offences Act came into force in January 2009, UK courts how have much greater authority to prosecute businesses for committing offences such as fitting illegal tyres and the maximum penalty is a £20,000 fine. Drivers are also under pressure from VOSA, to ensure they are driving with legal tyres, with drivers risking roadside fines of up to £200 per offence.

Tyre safety is an important factor for any company running a fleet of vehicles, whether you run cars, vans, buses, trucks or other HGV’s.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has reported that car production was down again in May with a drop of 43.0 per cent (albeit the smallest of the year). Commercial vehicle production was down by 73.5% and the outlook in this sector remains difficult. The scrappage scheme has helped some manufacturers restart production however.

Paul Everitt, chief executive of the SMMT said, “Prompt action by manufacturers to realign supply with demand has been painful, but was necessary. There is a now a direct link between demand in the marketplace and production volumes. Commercial vehicle production is severely affected by low business confidence and economic uncertainty”.

Car and CV (vans trucks, buses) monthly percentage change and volume

CAP New Vehicle Data has released data showing the number of new model variants to their database. CAP is the industry leading source of pricing and technical information on new vehicles used principally by retail motor dealers and contract hire operators. In April alone, 653 new car variants were added to their database.

The unprecedented level of new car variant activity is largely driven by the manufacturer’s attempts to offer “cleaner” cars according to CAP. David Saville, NVD (New Vehicle Data) Quality Control Supervisor, said ” This is the highest volume of new variants ever added in a month. At the core of these new variants appears to be the race to reduce CO2 as manufacturers seek to benefit from new tax rules in the company car market and attract private customers who wish to avoid punitively high VED rates”.

To put the current level of market activity into place, CAP added 5,482 new variants to the end of April this year, across all its databases which will include cars, trucks and vans. All the data behind Comparecontracthire.com is driven by CAP data and the latest makes and models are updated on a weekly basis.