Van and truck sales to dip claims Iveco

Iveco expects both the van and the truck market to shrink this year - the latter by 10% to 46,700 units. At its annual conference, Iveco announced its satisfaction with the way it performed in 2002 - a year when the truck market fell by 6.6% and van sales increased by 4.8%.

In the 2.8t to 6.5t van sector, Iveco sold 7,481 units - five more than in 2001, although its market share slid slightly from 7.2% to 6.9%, leaving it in fourth place behind market leader Ford.

Above 3.5t, Iveco took 36.9% to lead the market with 1,774 sales and said this sector is growing, as a 6t van is more acceptable on the high street that a 6t truck.

Daf took almost 22% of the truck market above 3.5t (11,376 units) with Iveco in third place registering 8,359 (16.1%) to regain the share of the market it lost two years ago when it withdrew from short-term buy-back deals. Mercedes took second place with 9,040 sales giving it 17.4%.

In the multi-axle range Scania, Daf and Volvo battled for the top slot, each taking around 19% with over 1,300 sales apiece, while Iveco was in ninth position with 4.4%, having sold 311 units.