02-06-2011

After a couple of faltering years for the Commercial Vehicle Show organisers are delighted with the attendance for this year’s event, which took place in the Birmingham NEC from the 12-14 April. The news will come as a breath of fresh air to some van insurance comparison sites which have experienced tough times recently as the commercial vehicle market showed signs of wavering.

Despite numbers reaching just half of those seen in 2008, which was the last time the show was held in full, the official number of visitors, which reached 16,137, is more than the organisers were expecting considering the event was cancelled in 2009 and only returned in 2010 as a scaled down event. Many van insurance comparison sites will be buoyed by the turnout, with the market already showing signs of a recovery.

In 2008 more than 28,000 visitors went to the show representing a bumper year for the event which covered all five halls of the Birmingham NEC. This year the event only covered two.

Geoff Dunning, head of the Road Haulage Association, one of the event’s organisers explained why he, as well as some of the van insurance comparison sites were so happy with the turnout: “Based on last year’s show the forecast attendance for this year’s show was between 12,000 and 15,000, so to surpass even the top end of this estimate was fantastic news for everyone involved in the industry.”

Two new debutants were unveiled in the UK pick-up market, namely the Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok. Other highlights included a first domestic showing for Nissan’s NV400 and Mercedes’ electric van, the Vito E-Cell.

Of all the major manufacturers the only two not to have some form of representation at the event were Vauxhall and Toyota.

The news that the commercial vehicle market is showing signs of recovery will come as music to the ears of many van insurance comparison sites, hopefully acting as a precursor for more positive times to come. If you have bought a new or used commercial vehicle then Van Compare is the one van insurance comparison site you should make sure you pay a visit.