Total van and truck registrations came to 20,260 units in December, up 25.6% for the month. Full year figures were 257,373 units for 2010, 16.4% up on last year.

Trucks were up 51.6% to 3,174 in December, full year at 34,458 units just 0.8% down. Vans performed better, up 21.7% to 17,086 in December; full year at 222,915 units, up 19.6%.

"During 2010 van and truck registrations posted one of the strongest annual rates of growth ever, at 15.9%, as volumes started to recover from the recession," said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive. The van market rose in all but one month in 2010, boosted by better than expected business confidence and improved output from the construction sector. Truck registrations grew rapidly in the second half of 2010 and ended the year on par with 2009 levels. "While we still have a long way to go to get volumes back to pre-recession levels, we expect more growth in 2011 and 2012," he continued.