Opinion: Confidence in new and used LCV market

By Andy Picton, chief commercial vehicle editor at Glass’s

Registrations in the light commercial vehicle (LCV) market grew for the fourteenth straight month, with volumes rising 2.2% in February.

February saw 17,934 new vehicles registered, but only 847 (4.7%) of these were battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

In the best February for 26 years (Feb 1998 – 18,044 units), performance across the sectors was mixed.

The Pickup sector recorded an 21.2% increase in registrations, whilst vans with gross vehicle weights between 2.5t and 3.5t saw registrations rise by 1.4% and represented over 68% of all units registered in the month.

Vans in the Below 2.0 tonne sector and Vans between 2.0 and 2.5 tonnes GVW recorded falls of 20.5% and 5.9% respectively.

Ford again recorded a strong month, with the Transit (1st), Transit Custom (2nd), the Ranger pickup in seventh (741 units) and the Transit Connect in tenth (661 units) positions.

The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter finished was third, whilst the Vauxhall Vivaro, Citroen Berlingo (701 units) and the Citroen Dispatch (626 units) from the Stellantis Group finished in fourth, eighth and ninth respectively. The Toyota Hilux claimed fifth spot whilst the Maxus Deliver 9 finished sixth with 779 units.

Top five LCV registrations

YTD 2024		February 2024		February 2023
Ford Transit Custom	4,267	Ford Transit	1,838	Ford Transit Custom	2,573
Ford Transit	3,736	Ford Transit Custom	1,611	Ford Transit	1,529
Vauxhall Vivaro	2,785	Mercedes-Benz Sprinter	1,325	Vauxhall Vivaro	1,203
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter	2,560	Vauxhall Vivaro	1,173	Citroen Berlingo	960
Citroen Berlingo	2,299	Toyota Hilux	836	Ford Transit Connect	897

 

Electric van registrations

The 847 BEV registrations up to 3.5t GVW in February represented a 12.3% drop on February 2023.  

With a monthly market share of 4.7% down from 5.5% twelve months ago and a YTD share of 4.9%, it’s clear that maintaining incentives alongside a dedicated van-suitable installation of chargers and a levelling out of charging costs is vital if we are to entice fleets into zero emission light commercial vehicles and achieve the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate requirements for 2024 and beyond.

February saw Vauxhall regain number one spot registering 179 electric light commercial vehicles (19.6% share of EV market), ahead of Ford (143 units – 15.7% market share and Toyota – (127 units - 13.9% market share).

By range, both the Vauxhall Vivaro Electric and the Toyota Proace City Electric registered 120 units in February. The Volkswagen ID Buzz Cargo was third with 95 units, fourth was the Ford E-Transit with 86 units and fifth was the Citroen eBerlingo with 64 units.

Only Nissan with 10.2% met the 10% mandate sales share target for BEVs in February. Vauxhall with 9.1%, Toyota (8.6%) and Volkswagen (7.2%) are edging closer to the goals set. YTD, BYD lead the way (100%), from Peugeot (9.7%), Renault (8.8%), Volkswagen (8.6%) and Nissan (8.3%)

An additional 64 BEVs above the 3.5t GVW were registered during the month, giving an overall BEV registration total of 911 units for February.

Summary

With the Government’s decision now reversed and Double Cab Pick-ups with a payload of one tonne or more still treated as commercial vehicles, growth in this sector looks set to continue.

Manufacturers have zero emission pick-ups in the pipeline, with many due to enter production in the next few years. With increasing annual targets, manufacturers require all the assistance possible if they are to achieve the goals set out by the ZEV Mandate.

Used LCV market overview

Confidence in the used LCV sector has grown since the turn of the year, with good levels of stock availability with plenty more to come. With much of this stock coming from rental, fleet, lease and contract hire sources, much of it is duplicated, low spec, in white and with varying degrees of wear and tear and damage.

With buyers competing to secure the best stock available, the condition of these vehicles is key if they are to attract the best prices in the marketplace.

Sales of LCVs in February dropped by 1.1% over January. Three quarters of all sales at auction were Euro 6 models, with an average age of 54.4 months.  

Average mileage was just under 73,400 miles with an average selling price of just over £10,000.

Used electric vans made up nearly 2.0% of all sales at auction with average age of 85.4 months.

Average mileage was nearly 52,500 miles and the average selling price was £4,900. Euro 5 stock made up the remaining 22% of sales.

February in detail

The volume of sales decreased by 1.1% in February, with average sales prices falling by 1.4% over the same period and 13.3% behind the same point last year.

The average age of all vehicles sold reduced slightly from 78.0 months to 77.3 months in February and down 4.9 months on February 2023.

The average mileage reduced by 1.4% to 80,938 miles. This was 3.9% lower than January 2023.

More medium vans were sold at auction than any other vehicle type, accounting for nearly 35.3% of all auction sales. Large vans accounted for 26.8% and small vans 26.2%.

Volumes of 4x4 stock sold accounted for only 11.6% of all sales but attracted the strongest average sales prices of £13,098 up £609 on January.

Large vans covered more distance than any other type of stock at an average of 91,920 miles. This was down 900 miles on January and over 2,200 miles less than in February 2023.

First-time conversion rates for February increased by 2.9% to 78.8% overall but sat 6.9% lower than 12 months ago.

Broken down, the best conversion rates were seen in the small panel van sector at 82.3% (up 6.4% on January), whilst a conversion rate of 75.1% (up 2.7%) in the 4x4 pickup sector returned the lowest.

Used vehicles observed for sale in the wholesale market last month increased by 1.25% to just over 43,100 units. 43.3% of all vehicles on sale were valued at £20,000 or more, while 37.1% were on sale for between £20,000 and £10,000.

At the lower end of the market, those vehicles on sale in the £10,000 to £5,000 price bracket increased to 15.5% of the overall market, whilst 4.1% were on sale for less than £5,000.