New van registrations clocked their best performance since 2006 in August. A total of 15,385 new LCVs were registered, 6.3% more than during the same month last year. The biggest increase was in the large van (2.5-3.5t category), where registrations rose by 14% to more than 9,600, accounting for 63% of the UK LCV market.
Overall performance for the first eight months of the year remained steady, with a 2.9% increase in demand totalling 231,857 new van registrations.
Here’s how UK van registrations have changed since August 2010:
UK Van registrations from August 2010-2016. Courtesy of SMMT.
Commenting on the figures, Mike Hawes, Chief Executive, SMMT, said:
“After a slower July, it is good to see growth in the new van market pick up again in August, with a record made in this traditionally quiet month. To ensure this performance continues, it is vital that government takes the necessary steps to secure economic stability and maintain confidence for operators to continue to invest in their fleets.”
Top-selling vans
There were few surprises in the best-seller tables for August. Ford retained its position as the best-selling van manufacturer, with 4,040 new registrations in August and 70,707 so far in 2016. In both cases that’s significantly more than the second and third-placed Vauxhall and Volkswagen:
Ford has dominated the LCV sales charts this year (data courtesy of SMMT)
Although sales during August were unusually high for the time of year, August is traditionally a quiet month and sales are much lower than most other months. For example, Ford’s 4,040 total is 45% lower than the 7,428 vehicles registered for the manufacturer in July.
This lack of volume can lead to quirky results — Renault isn’t really the tenth best-selling van manufacturer in the UK. What’s more likely is that the French firm didn’t register any large fleet orders in August.
Will the van market’s strength continue into the new registration month of September? It will be fascinating to see, as van registrations are often considered to be a useful barometer of the state of the real economy.