Iveco: State of the Nation 2012

The Italian van and truck manufacturer has been number-crunching the figures supplied by the Society of Manufacturers & Traders and takes a look back at the 2011 UK van market and its relative performance.

Official registration figures from the SMMT show that the number of vans up to 3.5 tonne sold increased 16.7 per cent year-on-year compared to 2010, reaching a total of 222,915. Iveco, however, is a bit of an oddity, in that it only has the one van range. Its Daily spans the 2.8 – 7.0t sector and really comes into its own at 3.5t and above, so its view of the UK market is a little different to other manufacturers.

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2.8 – 7.0 tonne
Compare 2011’s total sales of 126,256 in the 2.8t to 7.0t sector year-on-year to those of 2010 and it shows an increase of 20,204, representing a rise of 19.1 per cent. That’s the strongest growth seen since the market crashed in 2009 and all indications are that it’s due to a buoyant retail van market and ever-increasing internet sales leading to more stuff being delivered in vans.

Sales of 7.5 tonne trucks are suffering as a consequence, but the shift is inevitable. A 3.5t van offers a lower cost per drop, takes up less space on the road and there’s no need to get involved with tachographs, drivers’ hours or an Operator Licence.

Within the 2.8t to 7.0t sector Iveco performed well. It increased its registrations 40.9 per cent year-on-year with a total of 4,944, a market share of 3.9 per cent, putting it sixth in the league table behind Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Vauxhall and Renault, but ahead of Group partner Fiat, Citroën, Peugeot and Nissan.

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3.5 tonne
The vital 3.5t sector has shown healthy growth over the last 10 years — recovering well since 2009. And 2011 was no exception. Registrations of 63,919 outstripped those of 2010 by 10,434, a rise of 19.5 per cent.

With a 2011 market share of 5.7 per cent from sales of 3,628 it was a good year for Iveco at 3.5t. This represents a year-on-year increase of 38.7 per cent compared to 2010 placing it fourth in the league, trailing Ford, Mercedes-Benz and Renault. Considering Ford shifted 26,456 Transits — more than the other three manufacturers combined — Iveco still has a long way to go, but it’s heading in the right direction.

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3.5 – 7.0 tonne
Move above 3.5t and the market isn’t so much van-based as chassis cab- and bus-based, and 2011 was not a good year. Sales of 7,307 in 2010 dropped to 6,333, representing a decrease of 13.3 per cent. Iveco, however, increased its share from 12.2 to 20.8 per cent with 1,316 registrations. That’s an impressive trend-bucking year-on-year increase of 47.2 per cent putting it in third place behind Mercedes-Benz and Ford with sales of 1,458 and 1,381 respectively.

For a large part, Iveco’s success in this sector was down to the introduction of the Daily 7.0-tonner in 2009. It accounted for 620 of the registrations, or 47 per cent. We suspect that some of Merc’s performance in this sector can be put down to the Sprinter 6.0-tonner and that it also markets the Vario in this weight range.

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Onwards & Upwards

Iveco had a relatively successful 2011 in the UK, but it will not be sitting on its hands in 2012. Apart from rolling out the latest generation Daily which, take it from us, is a significant step forwards compared to its predecessors (see European Launch Report and we’ll be publishing a report from the UK launch shortly) it will be putting a great deal of focus on its recently restructured dealer network.

It’s looking to unify standards across the network, has already put a new sales team in place and will be strengthening the aftersales support. Additional training is being provided to develop skills at the dealer level and it’s introducing cost-effective financial, as well as repair and maintenance, packages.

Iveco has a wide range of products covering all market sectors and this will be extended during 2012 with the relaunch of its DriveAway, off-the-shelf conversions, Programme (see News Story). As marketing director Marta Nappo put it so eloquently: “We intend to put bums on seats”. Rather than attend the Commercial Vehicle Show in April Iveco is spending a substantial chunk of its 2012 budget on demonstrator vehicles, enabling it to show off the considerable virtues of its latest vans and trucks to potential customers in real-world conditions.