HGV registrations begin to stabilise

Sales of Commercial Vehicles for this year so far are a first tentative sign of stability beginning to return. Commercial Vehicles are often seen as a true barometer of economic activity, and this result is a very welcome indicator writes Trish Whelan.

Figures from SIMI show that 8,709 new cars were sold in April, an increase of 3 percent on last year.

SIMI's Director General Alan Nolan (pictured) says while this may seem a fairly modest increase, given the three long weekends in a single month, it is a very creditable result.

So far this year, some 56,676 new cars have been sold, compared to 50,591 for the same period last year, up by 12 percent.

The figures also show that 1,125 Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) were registered in April, an increase of 39 percent over last year while 125 Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGBs) were registered - an increase of 62 percent on April last year.

To year to date figure for LCVs is 6,093, an increase of 5 percent over the first four months of 2010 while the year-to-date statistics for HGVs at 475 are also up 4 percent compared to 2009 (456).