Items whose price has fallen include everything from body panels to mechanical and electrical components; all held at Multipart’s Lancashire site. Typical examples include a £90 reduction in the price of a Convoy bonnet assembly and a £20 cut in the cost of a steering lock for both Convoy and Pilot.

“The move will help to reduce the cost of ownership of LDVs for the many small tradespeople who run them,” says Brendan Leach, Multipart director responsible for LDV parts supply. “Garages and bodyshops will be able to carry out repairs to LDV vehicles using genuine approved parts that meet the manufacturer’s OE standard and get them from their local LDV dealer at a very competitive price.”

While assembly of LDV vans, chassis cabs and minibuses has now ceased, the parts and service network remains in place. “Parts availability is holding up well considering that it is now almost a year since any vehicle production took place at the Birmingham factory,” says LDV dealer council parts panel chairman, John Landon.

“Within the 80-strong dealer network we collectively hold in excess of £4m worth of parts backed up by stock valued at £10m held by Multipart and available on the next business day after ordering,” he continues “All LDV dealers operate a daily — sometimes twice-daily — parts delivery service both direct to vehicle owners and to trade outlets such as independent garages.”

Leach admits however that a small number of parts are now proving a little difficult to obtain. “As a consequence we’re working with our parent company, the TVS Group, to explore the possibility of sourcing some of them from their plants in India and elsewhere around the world,” he says. “We’re also actively engaged in discussions with the new owners of LDV to see if more material can be obtained from that source.”

LDV’s assets were bought from administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers by specialist vehicle engineers Eco Concept for an undisclosed sum. Production is unlikely to restart before 2011 and will probably be small-scale and aimed at niche markets.