Following an 8% fall in sales year-on-year in January with a small uptick in sales in February, the new light commercial vehicle market shrank by 3% year-on-year in March, according to numbers published this morning by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
New light van sales were up just over 1% in February, in what is a high volume month, as buyers traditionally wait for the new numberplates plate-change. In fact, it is typically the highest-volume registrations month of the year overall, so a sales decline in March doesn’t bode well for the rest of the year.
Just over 49,500 new LCVs were registered in the UK last month, around 1,700 less than the same month last year. The large van (2.5 to 3.5 tonnes) segment – accounting for the large majority of new LCV sales in the UK – actually grew in March, up 9%, with shrinking overall registration numbers being due rather concerning decreases in new small vans (2.0 to 2.5 tonnes) and pick-ups, with sales those categories shrinking by 54%.
Even more concerning for industry onlookers in the shrinking electric van (BEV) market, with registrations of battery-powered models falling by 16% year-on-year in March. That is a stark contrast to a much more optimistic February, when BEV uptake surged 44%.
This decline in all-electric LCV demand is concerning, 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 declined by 3.4% in March, it wasn’t the same story for everyone. Some brands will be celebrating a strong performance despite the wider downturn.
Those brands of note are Mercedes-Benz, Renault Trucks and Fuso – which saw registrations grow by 58%, 56% and 143% respectively. Other above average performers include Volkswagen, Peugeot, Land Rover, Ineos, Nissan, Renault, Vauxhall and MAN. These brands outperformed the overall LCV market by at least 10%.
Meanwhile, things were not as positive for Ford, Citroën, Toyota, Maxus, Iveco, KGM, Isuzu, Isuzu Truck and Dacia. All of these brands underachieved against the overall market by at least 10%.
The following brands were about where you’d expect them to be: Kia, Fiat, Farizon and GWM. All of these brands had results that were within +/- 10% of the overall market. Market leader Ford endured a difficult month, with registrations down 24%.
New year, same sales leader
To pretty much no-one’s surprise, the Ford Transit Custom took the sales top spot in March – as it did in January, February and literally every month of 2025. That said, there are a few changes at the top. Beyond the larger Ford Transit snatching a predictable second place, last month’s best-of-the-rest award goes to the Peugeot Partner, which outsold the Renault Trafic and Volkswagen which finished fourth and fifth respectively.
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