New van registrations rose by 1.9% to 28,480 in May, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Although down on April’s 11.8% gain, it’s nevertheless another strong result that suggests the UK economy remains in reasonable health. As it happens, last year’s strong growth also means that last month’s figure of 28,480 new van registrations is the highest ever record for the month of May.

UK van registrations May 2010 – May 2016. Numbers are rolling-year totals. Graph courtesy of SMMT.

Commenting on the figures, Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said:

“Although May was a record breaking month for the UK’s light commercial vehicle market, the pace of growth is easing and is indicative of the performance we anticipate this year following the very high levels of demand seen in 2015.

Providing there are no political or economic shocks to business confidence over the coming months, we expect the LCV sector’s good health to prevail during the remainder of 2016 as consumer appetite for online deliveries continues to grow.”

Mr Hawes’ comment regarding “political or economic shocks” are presumably a reference to the possbility that the UK electorate will vote for a Brexit in this month’s EU referendum.

Leaving unquantifiable political risks aside, it’s interesting to note that little has changed recently in terms of the type of vans that are selling.

Heavy vans (>2.5-3.5t) continue to dominate the market this year, enjoying the largest growth with a 13.3% increase on 2015 and LCVs in this segment making up 62.0% of total registrations. Much of the growth in this segments is thought to be due to growth in the logistics and home delivery sectors.

According to the Freight Transport Association’s (FTA) recent Logistics Report 2016, 20% of non-food sales are now made online. A total of 860m parcels were delivered to homes last year, up 43% from 600m in 2012. Those are seriously big numbers.

Less obviously, pick-ups are also fuelling the overall rise in demand – 18,674 were registered in the first five months of the year, up 9.6%. It’s hard to say how much of this demand is purely down to fashion and how much is the result of operational requirements. I’m leaning towards fashion, personally!

Best sellers

Topping the best sellers list once again in May was Ford, which sold 9,022 LCVs last month. That’s 158% more than second-placed Volkswagen, which managed to shift 3,495 units. Vauxhall, Peugeot and Mercedes-Benz occupied 3rd, 4th and 5th places respectively.

Ford is by far the biggest brand for light commercial vehicles in the UK. The Blue Oval has sold 48,371 LCVs so far in 2016, 168% more than second-placed Volkswagen (18,051). The firm’s vans are among the newest and most modern models on the market after the comprehensive range renewal program of the last few years. This launch of the firm’s new EcoBlue diesel engine this summer (review here).

The quality and breadth of Ford’s range means — I suspect — that’s its domination will remain complete for some time yet. Put differently, Ford would have to really mess things up to lose such a big home advantage.