The new light commercial vehicle market had a disappointing start to 2026, following minor sales growth in December with a 8% fall in sales year-on-year in January, according to numbers published this morning by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
This is the second January in a row that LCV sales fell, in what the SMMT says is a reflection of weak business confidence constraining fleet investment in the UK. The lobbying body has revised its projected annual LCV registrations prediction down from 335,000 to 321,000 in response.
Last month saw declining sales in the pick-up, small van (2.0 to 2.5 tonnes) and medium van (2.0 to 2.5 tonnes) categories, with registrations falling 57%, 40% and 27% respectively.
In contrast, there was a 34% boost in 4×4 registrations and a 10% sales growth in the large van (2.5 to 3.5 tonnes) segment – the latter accounting for the large majority of new LCV sales in the UK – but this wasn’t enough to raise overall sales numbers out of the red.
Despite the general registrations doom and gloom, new all-electric (BEV) van uptake improved 26% year-on-year in 2025, with electric vans now accounting for 10% of all LCV sales. This boost in all-electric LCV interest is certainly welcome, particularly as the government’s BEV sales target has been raised to 24% market share for 2026, up from 16% last year.
Good month, bad month
While the overall market had a disappointing sales tumble last month, it wasn’t the same story for everyone. Some brands with lower sales volumes than the industry leaders will be celebrating sales success after January.
Those brands of note are Nissan and Renault Trucks – which both more than doubled their van sales year-on-year in January. Other above average performers include Fuso, Land Rover, Isuzu, Renault, Vauxhall and Volkswagen. All of these brands outperformed the overall LCV market by at least 10%.
Meanwhile, things were not as happy for KGM, Peugeot, Iveco, Isuzu Trucks, Maxus, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Vauxhall. All of these brands underachieved against the overall market by at least 10%. Dominant market leader Ford had a poor month of sales too, with new LCV registrations down 31%.
The following brands were about where you’d expect them to be: Citroën, Fiat, MAN, and Ineos. All of these brands had results that were within +/- 10% of the overall market.
New year, same sales leader
To pretty much no-one’s surprise, the Ford Transit Custom took the sales top spot in January – as it did literally every month of 2025. That said, there are a few changes at the top when compared to December’s results. The larger Ford Transit and Ranger pickup could only muster a sixth and seventh place sales finish. The Vauxhall Vivaro and Volkswagen Transporter take second and third place instead.
The top ten includes some of the usual suspects like the Renault Trafic and Citroën Berlingo, but also a couple of new names. Usually loosing out to rivals from Ford or Stellantis brands, the Nissan Primastar recorded a fifth place finish in January. The upmarket Land Rover Defender Commercial also made its monthly top ten debut, recording over 500 sales to finish in ninth.
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