Healthy uptick in demand for heavy goods vehicles

British demand for new heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) grew by 14.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2023, with 11,531 trucks serving purposes from supermarket deliveries to refuse collections joining Britain’s roads, according to the latest figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

It represents the UK’s sixth consecutive quarter of growth and the greatest number of new HGV deliveries in any quarter since the end of 2019, as operators invest in the latest, greenest and most efficient truck technology available. Most positively, uptake of electric and hydrogen trucks continues to rise, representing 0.8 per cent of the market in Q3 – the largest quarterly share of 2023, compared with 0.3 per cent and 0.4 per cent in Q1 and Q2 respectively.

Overall growth was driven by uptake of rigid HGVs, up 13.9 per cent to 6,293 units, while demand for articulated trucks was also strong, rising 16.1 per cent to 5,238 units. The most popular truck body continues to be tractors, typically used for the largest delivery trucks, up 16.4 per cent to represent some 44.5 per cent of the market. There was also a rise in demand for box vans – slightly smaller delivery trucks – with registrations up 11.8 per cent, while uptake of curtain-sided trucks and refuse vehicles increased by 62.5 per cent and 16.6 per cent respectively. Tipper registrations declined, however, down -9.7% compared with a strong third quarter in 2022.

HGV operators in every UK nation continue to make vehicle investments, the vast majority (87.7 per cent) in England in Q3, with registrations up 13.9 per cent to 10,109 units.

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said:

Britain’s sixth quarter of rising HGV rollout and increasing uptake of zero emission trucks this year underlines the sector’s strong position, with operators in all UK regions getting the latest fuel-efficient and very greenest models. The rate of zero emission truck uptake must increase, however, both drastically and soon – amid significant obstacles to the sector’s transition. With just one public HGV chargepoint in the UK, a national plan for public and depot infrastructure is urgently needed to make fleet decarbonisation a reality for all operators, now and in the long term.

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