New van market records highest-ever April registrations
The light commercial vehicle market recorded its busiest ever April as 30,440 new vans were registered, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). All vehicle segments saw artificially inflated growth rates relative to April 2020, when Covid restrictions shut down much of the economy, with an eight-fold increase in total units. Registrations were also well ahead of the five-year average, with April 2021 up by 23.2 per cent. With some 127,796 vans registered so far in 2021, uptake levels have returned to levels last seen in 2019.