Employees at resurgent Birmingham vanmaker LDV are to get their first pay rise for four years as sales soar.

The company, which has been owned by Russian auto-motive group Gaz since July is also creating jobs at its Washwood Heath factory.

And in a dramatic turnaround in its fortunes, LDV was yesterday able to show that its sales performance is in fact far better than the official trade figures published earlier this week.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders' monthly registration statistics, LDV sold nearly 17 per cent fewer vehicles in October - 940 compared with 1,128 in the same month last year when the company was in the throes of the financial crisis that resulted its going into temporary administration.

Year-to-date figures showed the company nearly 14 per cent adrift with sales of 6,394 versus 7,423 in the first ten months of 2005.

As The Birmingham Post reported on Monday, figures for 2005 and 2006 are not strictly comparable. That's because LDV no longer makes the Pilot and Convoy vans that contributed to its 2005 sales figures.

Yesterday, company spokesman Steve Miller revealed that the company's sole model, the award-winning Maxus, is in fact selling so well that production rates will have to be raised from the current 205 a week.

Maxus registrations rose by 21 per cent in October and were 49 per cent ahead over the year so far.

A total of 5,580 had been registered by the end of October compared with 3,741 for the whole of last year, Mr Miller said.

"Orders for Maxus are coming in faster than we can manufacture them so line rates are going to have to go up again," he added. LDV is recruiting a further 50 manufacturing and administrative workers, a move that will bring the workforce up to 900.

Numbers fell from about 1,000 to 650 in the wake of last year's drama, but 200 were added to payroll when LDV took back the Drews Lane body pressings operation from Stadco recently.

The new owners have offered a 3.5 per cent pay rise which is due to be implemented in January.

"This is the first pay rise since 2002 and reflects the fact that under Gaz's ownership we have increased Maxus production from 150 a week to 205," Mr Miller said.

"A lot of good, positive things have come from Gaz's ownership. This time last year things weren't looking very good.

"What a difference a year can make."

LDV has been given a further boost by the Post Office, one of its biggest customers, which has named it Supplier of the Year.

"It shows that even during all the difficulties we have faced we haven't let our customers down and have main-tained our level of service," said Mr Miller.

The company picks up another award today with Maxus being named Van of the Year by the Institute of Transport Management.

LDV crashed with debts of £234 million late last year after revenues began to lag the higher manufacturing costs incurred by Maxus, which was the first all-new van it had been able to launch since the 1993 management buyout from the failed Anglo-Dutch Leyland DAF group.

It was bought out of administration by Florida-based private equity group Sun Capital Partners and sold on in July to Gaz, part of Russian metals mogul Oleg Derispaska's business empire, for a reported £50 million.

The crisis saw the departure of long-serving chief executive Allan Amey. LDV is now run by two former Ford executives, Martin Leach and Steve Young.