The UK new light commercial vehicle (LCV) market recorded a third consecutive month of growth in June, with registrations rising 11% year-on-year, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
While overall demand remains positive, market growth continues to be reliant on rising large van registrations, while pickup and small van sales falling once again year-on-year in June. Battery electric van uptake grew 23% last month, but demand still isn’t strong enough to meet the annual government-mandated target.
Large van registrations behind sales uptick
Growth in June was largely fuelled by demand for large vans (2.5 to 3.5 tonnes), which increased 13% to nearly 22,000 registrations. Keep in mind that large van category is already by far the largest in the LCV market, dwarfing demand for small and medium vans and accounting for almost three-quarters (71%) of all new LCV registrations so far in 2026, up from 63% at this point in 2025.
The most dramatic percentage growth per category in June belongs to the medium van (2.0 to 2.5 tonnes) class, which grew by 62% year-on-year to around 7,000 new registrations, while small vans (under 2.0 tonnes) fell 19% to around 800 registrations.
The 4×4 segment posted stronger registration numbers than June 2025, rising 21% to roughly 900 units.
However, pickup registrations continued their dramatic downturn. Sales fell by 57.7% to around 1,200 units, marking the ninth consecutive month of decline. Pickups now account for just 6% of the LCV market, compared with 13% a year ago.
The ongoing weakness follows changes introduced in April 2025 that reclassified double-cab pickups as company cars for Benefit-in-Kind taxation purposes, significantly increasing costs for many business users.
Electric van demand rising but not fast enough
Battery electric van (BEV) registrations increased by 23% in June to 3,700 units, giving electric vans a monthly market share of 12%, up from 11% in June last year.
While this represents healthy growth in volume terms, BEV registrations still only account for 10% of the total LCV registrations in 2026, which is still significantly below the government’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate target of 24% market share for 2026. It is worth noting that 10% of all LCV sales being electric was the government target in 2024.
Diesel remains dominant, representing 84% of June registrations and 84% of the market January-to-June.
Good month, bad month
While the overall market grew by 11% in June, not everyone benefitted from increasing demand. Some brands will be celebrating a stronger performance than others.
Those brands of note are Renault, Vauxhall and Citroën – which all managed to more than double their registration totals when compared to June 2025. Other above-average performers include Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Nissan, Fiat, KGM, Farizon, Isuzu Trucks, and Fuso. These brands outperformed the overall LCV market by at least 10%.
Meanwhile, things were not as positive for Isuzu, Maxus, Toyota, and Iveco. All of these brands underachieved against the overall market by at least 10%. Market leader Ford also recorded a particulary bad month by the brand’s high-sales standards, with registrations down 29%. That’s around 3,000 units less than June last year.
The following brands were about where you’d expect them to be: Renault, Renault Trucks, Land Rover, Dacia and MAN. All of these brands had results that were within +/- 10% of the overall market.
Ford Transit Custom stays on top
The Ford Transit Custom maintained its position as Britain’s best-selling van in June with over 3,400 registrations – 1,300 more sales than any other model. Looking at the annual leaderboard, the Transit custom has now extended its sales lead at the top with exactly 23,000 registrations.
Similarly sized rivals like the Renault Trafic and Vauxhall Vivaro don’t come close to challenging the Ford at this point, with around 8,000 and 7,700 registrations respectively.
The most notable surprise is that the larger Ford Transit was relegated from its usually monthly second place in June, being overtaken by the Peugeot Partner to sit in third.
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