New van registrations have continued the upward trend seen for a number of months, rising by 23.6% during March, compared to the same period last year, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Van registrations have risen by 22.3% so far this year, compared to the same period last year, while truck registrations have overcome their Euro 6-induced slump and are up by 41% so far in 2015.

Commenting on the figures, Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said:

“Demand for commercial vehicles remains buoyant in 2015, with both vans and trucks achieving a strong first quarter performance yet again. This continued upturn, and the third month of consecutive growth, can be attributed to higher levels of consumer and business confidence.”

As in previous months, rising van registrations are being driven by sales of larger vans, with gross weights between 2t and 3.5t:

March light commercial vehicle registrations:

However, I’m not sure this trend is as informative as the SMMT suggests: there are very few sub-2t van models, anymore. Even some variants of so-called ‘small’ vans, like the Citroen Berlingo, now weigh more than 2t, meaning that the number of vans sales in the 2t category is naturally dwindling.

In fact, the fastest growing van segment in March was the sub-2t category, where registrations rose by 24.6% to 8,353 units. However, running close behind was the 2.5-3.5t segment, where registrations rose by 23.8% to a whopping 34,007 units — large vans are the highest volume area of the LCV market.