November light van sales up, despite lockdown

The light van market grew by 8.8 per cent in November, although year-to-date the market remains down -21.5 per cent from 2019’s levels. All van and light commercial segments showed improvement in November except pick-ups and 4x4s. These are primarily purchased by private individuals and self-employed as they are both work and lifestyle vehicles, hence often ordered in showrooms, which were closed throughout the month.

The majority of van and light commercial sales are business-to-business and often ordered by fleets. As a result, many of the November registrations were likely ordered in previous months. As many of these vehicles are ordered by fleets and businesses, deliveries are arranged off-site and therefore not affected by the COVID-19 restrictions.

The largest increase came from the maximum capacity 2.5-3.5t commercials bought by the fleet sector and often used for the deliveries of online sales. This large van sector represents 64 per cent of all LCVs registered this year. In November, 20,769 vehicles went on the road showing a 25.2 per cent increase, a massive step-up from November 2019 when 16,588 units were registered.

The other two van sectors under 2.0t and over 2.0-2.5t both showed healthy increases by 13.7 per cent and 13.6 per cent respectively, as opposed to the decline in pick-up and 4×4 registrations, down -56.2 per cent and -0.7 per cent respectively.

The Ford Transit Custom held onto its lead with the biggest market share with 4,156 registrations in the month, Mercedes was second, with 2,747 new Sprinters registered in November.

“While car showrooms and non-essential shops remained shut through November in England due the pandemic, van registrations up to 3.5 tonnes bucked the trend with a strong 8.8 per cent increase”, said Sue Robinson, Chief Executive of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle dealers in the UK commenting on the latest SMMT’s light commercial vehicle registration figures.

Robinson added: “As door-to-door online deliveries continue to support van registrations, it is positive to see the sustained growth in the light commercial market in recent months, which is partly offsetting the impact that the pandemic had on the sector earlier in the year”.