Slight dip hits small van market

Although the van market has experienced a remarkable recovery over recent years, a rate of recovery many other industries only wish they could replicate, sales of small vans, which typically attract cheap van insurance quotes, have seen year on year figures actually drop by nearly 9%, representing a year on year decrease of 3298 in the actual amount of units sold.

This drop in the number of small vans sold has not been experienced by the rest of the van sales market, leaving leading industry figures guessing as to why the sector has witnessed what is in context, quite a significant dip. Many of those in the know expected that with the present economic depression, sales of small vans would increase disproportionately to the rest of the market as they attract cheap van insurance quotes, helping to keep running costs to a minimum.

In contrast to these figures heavy van sales jumped by a staggering 33.7% in April with 10,392 units sold, whilst the medium sized van segment saw a 32.3% hike to 2351.

Pick-up van registrations also grew with a 20.5% increase in April taking the number of units sold to 1698. This figure was a whopping 53.6% greater than that for the first four months of the year.

So put into context, the 4.3% increase in sales of light van sales for the first four months of the year, which took official sales figures to 17,963, is a modest increase indeed when you consider the medium and large vans sector saw increases of well over 30%. So why is it that van drivers are ignoring vehicles which traditionally attract cheap van insurance quotes in favour of more expensive alternatives?

Some industry insiders are suggesting operators are looking to maximise payload and load capacities by choosing larger vans, cutting down on the number of journeys their fleet vehicles need to make and shirking those vehicles which attract cheap van insurance premiums.

SMMT boss Phil Everett remained optimistic: “April recorded the 15th successive monthly rise for new van registrations. Year-to-date figures for almost every sector were up significantly on 2010, a trend that is likely to continue throughout the year.”

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