The LCV market is enjoying a strong finish to a turbulent year, with new registrations up by 10% in November, following a 14% increase in October.
Once again, it was large vans (2.5-3.5 tonnes) and pick-ups leading the charge, recording growth of 13% and 16% respectively over the same month last year. Large rigid vans (3.5-6.0 tonnes) were also up by 15%, although their numbers are not included in LCV totals.
As has been the case all year, growth in larger vans has come at the expense of smaller vans, with the small (under 2.0 tonnes) and medium (2.0-2.5 tonnes) categories ending the month 4% down on last November’s results. These falls are, however, less than in recent months.
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With the year nearly done, the overall LCV market is stable with overall registrations down by less than 1% on last year. Large vans dominate the market with nearly 63% of the market share, and pick-ups look set to end the year as the second-largest category – albeit with only 15% market share.
Not much change in the top ten
There was very little movement in the top ten rankings in November, with the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter once again splitting the market-leading Ford Transit Custom and its big brother. Behind the top three, the Volkswagen Transporter pipped the British-built Vauxhall Vivaro by less than 50 units to take fourth place.
Another strong month for the Mercedes Sprinter in December could see it overhaul the VW Transporter for third place in the full-year figures, while the rest of the top ten looks pretty set in stone for the full 2018 rankings.
