After a fairly poor 2022, it seems the new van market is on the mend. November marked the eleven straight month of consecutive registrations growth for the van market, as demand for medium-sized vans rose by 161% year-on-year last month.
According to the latest figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the market grew by a modest 13% overall last month when compared to November 2022, with over 27,000 new LCVs joining the UK road network.
While we are now quite used to making sombre comparisons to pre-pandemic sales figures, last November actually surpassed the pre-Covid November 2019 LCV registrations total by 5%. The SMMT comments that this is due to increasing model availability, as some supply pressures continue to ease.
Pickup and 4×4 registrations grew by 15% and 7% respectively, and sales of mid-size vans (between two and two-and-a-half tonnes) more than doubled when compared to the same month last year, rising 161%. After several months of declining sales figures, small van (under two tonnes) registrations actually grew by 10% in November.
Large vans (between two-and-a-half and three-an-a-half tonnes) still make up the large majority of new van sales though, and while this sector was pretty stagnant last month – sales falling by 2% – it still accounted for over 18,000 new registrations.
Though sales are on the rise, the supply issues manufacturers are facing haven’t entirely dissipated, and China’s persistent Covid-19 issues could cause further supply strain in the months to come.
EV uptake continues to slide
The battery-powered vehicle (BEV) sector of the LCV industry has continued to grow throughout 2023. At times it has been rather stagnant, showing minimal growth, but demand has never decreased year-on-year, but the last two months paint a different picture.
In stark comparison to a busy September where around 2,900 new BEVs were registered in the UK – an increase of 1,300 BEV sales – October saw only around 1,400 battery-powered vans registered for UK roads, a 20% drop. New BEV sales fell in November too, by 17%.
Unsurprisingly diesel power still dominates, rising once again to account for 91% of last month’s new LCV sales. The SMMT says that there has been a “recent stall in demand” for electric vans, which “underscores the importance of new measures that encourage van operators to invest in the benefits that zero emission technology offers.”
Good month, bad month
While the BEV sales results paint a gloomy picture, many of the LCV sector’s big brands will be very content with their sales performance last month.
The likes of Citroën, Nissan and Maxus all doubled their registration numbers in November year-on-year. Peugeot, Toyota, Vauxhall, Fiat, Isuzu and Iveco also outperformed the overall market by more than 10% last month.
Conversely, it wasn’t a healthy month of sales for the likes of Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, 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).
Best-seller sales race nearing its end
Throughout 2023, one LCV has dominated the best-selling van race in the UK – the Ford Transit Custom. No competitor has come close to snatching the top spot, and the mid-sized Ford now holds a 11,500 sales lead over second place, which happens to be its larger Ford Transit sibling.
The Vauxhall Vivaro has re-established itself as the UK’s ‘best-of-the-rest’ candidate. Vauxhall reports that its Vivaro Electric is still the best-selling BEV in the UK so far.
The Ford Ranger pickup sits in fourth in the annual rankings and is still the UK’s best-selling pickup model by a country mile.
The Volkswagen Transporter, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and Renault Trafic sit in the middle of the pack, while the Citroën Berlingo, Ford Transit Connect and Peugeot Partner complete the leaderboard.
