Birmingham van maker LDV has refused to be downbeat despite an early summer slump which saw sales of its vehicles dip by nearly 17 per cent last month.

The Washwood Heath manufacturer sold 656 vans in May compared with 790 for the same month last year.

The 16.96 per cent dip came as the light commercial vehicle sector enjoyed a resurgence with sales across all manufacturers and registrations up by 8.87 per cent.

But despite the fall, LDV has continued to enjoy a resurgent 2006 which has seen overall sales increase by 9.98 per cent in the year to date.

A total of 2,975 vans have been sold since January by the van maker, which slipped into temporary administration in December before being bought by an American private equity group Sun Capital Partners.

The decision to focus solely on the Maxus van has paid off, with the year to date figure comparing favourably to the 2,705 vehicles registered for the same period last year.

Steve Miller, marketing director at LDV, said the company was pleased with the May figures which hid part of the company's real performance.

He said: "In May 2005 we were still selling the Convoy and Pilot as well as the Maxus. Then we sold 512 Maxus, 270 Convoy and eight Pilot vans.

"But now we no longer make the Convoy and the Pilot, and for May this year we sold 582 Maxus, 74 Convoy and no Pilots.

"That shows the number the number of Maxus we have sold has increased by 14 per cent, while in the year to date we have sold 2,298 Maxus compared with 806 for this time last year.

"That is a three fold increase, and is pleasing because the Maxus is our future and is more profitable as well.

"We are now benefiting from all the different variants we have launched, including minibuses, and are selling them to single buyers, small and large fleet users."

In the year to date, the total number of new commercial vehicles rose by 2.6 per cent to 168,222 while May saw a 1.4 per cent increase to 31,293.

Light commercial vehicles saw an 8.9 per cent increase in May to 27,531 vehicles, although there was a slight dip in the year to date of 0.1 per cent to 138,113.

A spokesman for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which released the figures, said: "The light vehicle market is where about where we would expect it to be.

"A lot of new vans have been announced by Volkswagen, Mercedes, Ford and LDV at the recent commercial vehicle show in Birmingham.

"That is going to have an effect on the older models as people wait for the newer versions to come through."

Meanwhile, the legal requirement for all trucks to have digital tachographs before the end of April may have distorted the truck market, with many users rushing through purchases in time to meet the deadline.

This meant that there was then a shortfall in May.

Truck registrations were down 36.4 per cent in the month to 3,340, although in the year to date were 17.3 per cent ahead at 27,963.

A total of 422 buses and coaches were sold in May, 29.1 per cent ahead of the same month last year, taking the year to date figure to 2,146 - a rise of 16.1 per cent.