We’re just two months away from the Commercial Vehicle Show and as we celebrate its 25th anniversary as the UK’s largest trade show for road freight, transport and logistics, it’s clear how much the Show has changed over the past quarter century. Indeed, it remains the ultimate one-stop marketplace for the very latest products and innovations, from vehicles and components to services and solutions – but given how much industry has changed since 2000, and how significantly it is required to change in the next decade, the Show continues to evolve and support fleet operators on that journey.
As such, 2025 will feature a fresh conference series with industry experts and leaders taking place four theatres across the three days, including the Main Theatre, the Decarbonisation Theatre, which will discuss the support available to operators looking to decarbonise, and the Technical Theatre, offering a programme of ‘Toolbox Talks’. SMMT will present and chair each session on the first day in the Main Theatre, with a keynote address from Chief Executive Mike Hawes, plus panels on topics such as improving HGV workshop standards, automated heavy vehicle technology and the Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstration (ZEHID) programme.
The first day will also explore why light and heavy vehicle fleet operators need to start planning for their fleet transition now – with no time to waste during the next decade. Indeed, with less than 10 years until new registrations of every van – and HGVs below 26 tonnes – must be zero emission, fleets need to prepare their investment decisions now, before it’s too late. There is crucial funding support available to operators and it is very welcome this week that the Plug-in Van Grant and Plug-in Taxi Grant have been extended. Industry now eagerly awaits an update on the Plug-in Truck Grant, which is due to expire in less than five weeks’ time.
Britain has world-leading ambitions for decarbonising the CV sector. Fiscal support will be vital and, as SMMT has set out, it must form part of a wider industrial and trade strategy that safeguards our sector’s massive investments in zero emission vehicle production. Industry is facing many challenges, notably global trade uncertainty, which must be addressed given much of our output is exported. The latest SMMT data published today shows the UK produced more than 6,900 CVs last month, down -41.5% compared with the same month last year. January 2024 did bring the best output volume for the month since 2008, however, the decline underlines the need for industrial and trade strategies so that everyone – manufacturer, operator and the wider economy – can grow and decarbonise in the years to come.
