The new light van market has started 2025 in poor sales form, recording a 21% registrations decline year-on-year in January.
According to the latest figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), over 19,000 new LCVs arrived on British roads last month, this being close to 5,000 less registrations than the same month last year.
This marks the second month of consecutive registrations decline for the new light van market after a disappointing December performance, the SMMT commenting that shrinking sales numbers are “set against a tough economic backdrop and weakened business confidence to invest.”
Looking at the January sales results in more detail, registrations fell in almost every category when compared to January 2024. Compact vans (under two tonnes) was the only sector that grew, recording 90% more sales year-on-year. Sales of mid-sized vans (between two and two-and-a-half tonnes) dropped by 30%, while large van registrations (between two-and-a-half and three-and-a-half tonnes) fell by 22%.
The sales of 4x4s dropped by more than a quarter, while the January pickups sales total also fell by 7% when compared to the same month last year.
BEV sales buck the trend
In stark contrast to the LCV market at large, the electric van (BEV) sector has recorded a 12% sales bump in January, following October’s 57% registrations uptick, November’s 32% sales increase and December’s 10% year-on-year increase.
This is a promising start for the BEV market, and further growth is anticipated in the coming months, but will this be enough to meet government mandated sales targets?
The government’s Vehicle Emissions Trading Scheme targeted a BEV market share of 16% for each brand by the end of 2024. For the market overall, electric vans currently account for 7% of the total number of new registrations in January. By comparison, electric models accounted for 21% of new sales in the car market last month.
So, why is the BEV market not growing like the electric car market? The SMMT has praised the government’s decision to extend the Plug-in Van Grant into the next financial year, but argues that increasing the rollout of charging stations – including van-specific charging infrastructure – will increase consumer BEV interest.
Good month, bad month
Very few manufacturers in the LCV space will look on January’s registration results favorably, with almost every significant marque recording notable sales nosedives when compared to the opening month of 2024.
Holding the biggest market share, Ford were perhaps the biggest winners last month. Sales grew by a modest 3% year-on-year, but this is 24% above the market average. Nissan increased its registration numbers by 13%, and while they are smaller players in the van sector, the likes of MAN and KGM Motors more than doubled their sales tallies in January year-on-year.
Conversely, Fiat sales more than halved, dropping 53%. It also wasn’t a healthy month of sales for the likes of Vauxhall, Mercedes-Benz, Citroen, Toyota and Volkswagen. All of these brands underachieved compared to the overall market by at least 10% (and in some cases, by a lot more than that).
New year, but business as usual
Fresh off being crowned the UK’s best selling LCV at the end of 2024 with a rather ridiculous 28,000-model sales lead over its closest market competitor, the Ford Transit Custom has started 2025 in strong form. In fact, the popular mid-sized van is over 1,200 sales ahead of its Ranger pick-up sibling in second after a single month of sales.
The larger Ford Transit isn’t far behind in third place, while the Vauxhall Vivaro and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter occupy fourth and fifth, already around 1,000 sales behind the top three.
The Sprinter is followed by the Peugeot Partner, Citroën Berlingo, Vauxhall Combo, Renault Trafic and the Ford Transit Courier which completes the top ten sales standings.
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