Our take on the latest Commercial registrations and activity (Wed 10 Jun 2020)
New light commercials down 39%pa
New medium commercials down 24%pa
New very heavy commercials down 33%pa
The key numbers...
- A total of 2,723 new commercial vehicles were registered in May 2020, down 38% (or 1,691) from May 2019. In the year so far, there have been 37% fewer new commercial vehicle registrations compared with the same period in 2019.
- Light commercial vehicle registrations fell the furthest for the third consecutive month, down 39%pa, followed by very heavy commercials, down 33%pa, and medium commercials, down 24%pa.
- Total road user charges fell 18%pa in May 2020 after falling 63%pa in April 2020.
New light commercial registrations
Monthly annual % changes
...and our reaction
- Two weeks of Level 3 lockdown in May will have restricted commercial vehicle sales, and some of May’s registrations will have been pent-up demand from Level 4 lockdown, so May’s result is still not a fair indicator of how post-COVID-19 ‘normal’ trading might look.
- We expect an improvement in commercial vehicle registrations in the coming months, but the economic outlook remains grim and registration numbers will continue to fall throughout the year.
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