The light commercial vehicle sector’s community of manufacturers, suppliers and service providers were out in force at the NEC in Birmingham from 24 to 26 April, demonstrating the current good health of the sector and also making a convincing case for retaining the UK show as an annual event despite increasingly challenging market conditions and the potential alternative pull on marketing budgets for exhibitors of the biennial Hanover Commercial Vehicle Show, which will be held in September.
Highlights in the halls included the return by popular demand of the car-derived Fiesta Van on the Ford stand where it even managed to steal the show from the updated members of the Transit family – the Custom, Connect and Courier.
The march of electric vehicles from the margins to the mainstream is irreversible and major attractions were the show debuts of the Renault Master Z.E and the new Nissan E-NV200.
The pick-up sector continues to buck the trend of falling sales in other market segments and there was new metal to be seen on the stands of Isuzu, Mitsubishi, SsangYong and Toyota, which also gave a debut to its Land Cruiser Commercial.
Conversions were also prominent, with the PSA brands Citroen and Peugeot among those showcasing new models and bodybuilders VFS and Ingimex displaying new lightweight load solutions.
To see our in-depth coverage of the main event in the UK’s commercial vehicle industry calendar visit www.whatvan.co.uk/news.
