UK LCV markets see surprisingly different demand

11 June 2025

May saw a sixth successive month of decline for the UK’s new light-commercial vehicle (LCV) market. Alternatively, demand for used models was far more stable. Andy Picton, specialist residual value analyst at Glass’s, analyses the market with Autovista24 editor Tom Geggus.

A total of 22,796 new vans, pickups and chassis variants took to the UK’s roads in May. This marked a year-on-year drop of 11.8%. Demand fell across all sectors, with varying degrees of severity. LCVs between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight (GVW) suffered the biggest drop once again.

Following a 10% tumble in March and a 22.9% fall in April, the sector declined by 14% in May. The 14,652 registrations were 2,390 units behind levels recorded in the same period of 2024. Despite this, vans in this weight category continued to prove the most popular, representing over 64.2% of all LCVs registered.

Demand for vans of 2 tonnes GVW and under fell by 7.8% year on year. Meanwhile, those between 2 and 2.5 tonnes GVW experienced a 9.2% decline. May was the first full month after the benefit-in-kind (BIK) taxation changes. Accordingly, most pickups are now classified as cars when calculating the benefit charge for company vehicles. This may explain why the sector fell by 12.7% to 2,690 deliveries. Compared with May 2024, 391 fewer units were registered.

Most in-demand models

Ford occupied two of the top three places in May. The Transit Custom finished first with 3,365 units, 916 ahead of the Transit at 2,449 units. The Peugeot Partner came third with 1,216 units, while other Stellantis models, the Citroen Berlingo (688 units) and Vauxhall Vivaro (653 units) came seventh and ninth respectively.

The Toyota Hilux placed fourth with 1,096 registrations. Mercedes-Benz took fifth with 1,064 new Sprinters entering service for the first time. Further down the top 10, the Ford Ranger finished in sixth, registering 1,003 units. The Volkswagen (VW) Crafter ended up in eighth with 664 units. The Renault Trafic rounded out the top 10 with 646 units.

Increased demand for electric vans

May marked the eighth consecutive month of increased registrations of battery-electric vans up to 4.25 tonnes GVW. Compared with 12 months ago, the sector saw a 50% rise, with 1,731 units registered. This equates to a monthly market share of 7.6%, up from 4.5% in May 2024.

Battery-electric van registrations have underlined a positive trend so far in 2025. In the year to date, 10,509 units have been registered. This represents a 43.5% improvement compared to the first five months of 2024. As a result, the overall market share increased to 8.2% from 5% at the same point last year.

Manufacturers continue to invest heavily in decarbonisation, with over 40 different zero-emission models available on the UK market. However, uptake is still at just above half of the 16% zero-emission vehicle mandate target set for the end of this year.

In a bid to unlock greater zero-emission demand, an amendment to the derogation for driving 4.25-tonne battery electric and hydrogen vans came into effect on 10 June. This allowed these vehicles to be driven without the additional five hours of training. This change also applies to D1 category minibuses when driven by somebody over the age of 21 and for a non-commercial operation such as a charity, school or youth group.

Further consultations are in place to remove the need for tachographs and changes to the MOT testing procedures. These changes and the recent commitment to fast-track grid connections for data centres, wind farms, and solar projects are positive.

However, fleet operators need stronger government support to prioritise and transform transport depots. Further investment in LCV-suitable charging infrastructure is also needed, not only at public charging sites but at depots and shared hubs. Without consistent and efficient local planning, operators will not have the confidence to transition to a zero-emission future.

Ford leads electric deliveries

Ford accounted for 28.9% of new electric vans registered in May, with a total of 500 units. VW came second with 407 deliveries, representing 23.5% of the market. This was well ahead of the 220 registrations achieved by Vauxhall in third, which gave the marque a 12.7% share.

Citroen finished fourth with an 8.7% market share and 150 registrations. Mercedes-Benz came fifth with a 6.5% market share after registering 112 units. Renault ended May in sixth with 82 units and a 4.7% share. Maxus finished in seventh with 79 registrations and a 4.5% market share. Toyota registered 73 units (4.2% market share) finishing in eighth, then Nissan came ninth with 35 units and a 2% share. Peugeot rounded out the top 10 with 28 units, representing 1.6% of the total registrations.

Looking at the model breakdown, the Ford E-Transit Custom accounted for 22.3% of all new electric vans registered in May. The VW ID.Buzz Cargo was second with a 19.8% share. The Vauxhall Vivaro Electric took third with 7.5%. In fourth was the Mercedes-Benz eSprinter with 5.8%, whilst the Ford E-Transit made up 5.3% of all BEV registrations in fifth.

The Citroen e-Berlingo came sixth with 84 units and a share of 4.3%. The VW e-Transporter and Citroen e-Dispatch tied in seventh with 64 units (3.7% share). The Renault Kangoo E-Tech finished ninth with 61 units (3.5% share) and the Toyota Proace City Electric came 10th with 48 units (2.8% share).

The plug-in hybrid (PHEV) van segment saw Ford, Toyota and VW register a combined 685 units. Ford led the pack with 247 Transit Custom, 239 Transit Connect and 48 Ranger PHEVs registered. Toyota followed with 141 Corolla Commercials and then VW with 10 Caddy PHEV models. In the year to date, 3,755 PHEV LCVs have been registered, with Ford claiming a dominant 74.4% share.

Stable supply and demand

Most new LCVs being registered are fleet replacements rather than additional vehicle sales. This means there are fewer de-fleeted vehicles entering the used arena. That said, May proved to be another busy month for used LCV sales, with supply and demand levels more stable. However, there were areas of weakness.

Low-spec nine-seat minibuses struggled to tempt buyers. Higher mileage stock also came under scrutiny, with the trade struggling to turn a profit. The changes to BIK tax laws have resulted in slightly reduced interest for 4×4 pickups. This is especially true for higher mileage stock, while older battery-electric vans are proving more popular than newer stock.

Month-on-month drop

Used LCV sales dipped for the second month in a row. Concerns over the economy and the stop-start nature of bank holidays in the UK appear to have slowed the market. Although sales were down 8.9% compared to April, average age and mileage increased by only 0.6 months and 165 miles respectively.

With more stock under two years of age sold in May, average sales prices remained steady. These figures increased by a nominal £70. First-time conversion rates fell by only 0.1 percentage points (pp) to 79.7% overall.

Year-on-year, sales grew by over 10%, while prices were up by 6.7%. Average mileage hit 75,491, nearly 4,050 miles lower than 12 months ago. Average age was 6.3 months younger, while first-time conversions were up by 13pp.

Sales of Euro 6 vehicles remained static, accounting for 85.2% of the market, while Euro 5 fell 0.2pp to a 12.3% share. In terms of segments, medium vans led demand, making up 39.1% of sales. Small vans followed at 24.4%, then large vans at 23.9%. The 4×4 pickup sector took a 12.6% share. However, it commanded the highest average sales price at £12,384 (€14,645), up 18.1% year on year. Large vans covered more distance than any other category at an average of 83,396 miles, down 300 miles compared to April.

Used electric van sales down

Sales of electric vans fell in May, accounting for 2.4% of the overall auction market, down 0.1pp compared to April. Their average age fell to 40.8 months from 44.6 months in April, and down by 4.7 months year on year. Mileage dropped sharply to 20,010 miles from 30,019 last month but was still 3.1% higher than in May 2024. First-time conversion rates fell to 59.4%, while average sale prices jumped by 13.6% to just over £8,640.

Small vans accounted for 35.9% of electric LCV sales. The highest mileage was covered by medium vans, averaging 36,776 miles. Meanwhile, the lowest distance was covered by pickups, averaging 5,506 miles. Large electric vans attained the highest average sales price of £14,500 and for the second month running, had a 100% conversion rate.

Rising retail sales

The number of used vehicles for sale in the retail market rose by 0.2% in May, to over 48,400 units. Diesel models continued to appeal with a 92.1% share. Meanwhile, BEVs made up 4.7%, just ahead of petrol with 2.1% and PHEVs with 0.8%.

Nearly 39% of listed vehicles were priced at £20,000 or more. A total of 36.4% were priced between £10,000 and £20,000, while 19.7% sat in the £5,000 to £10,000 range. Only 5.1% of vehicles were priced below £5,000. Following the changes to the BIK taxation rules, nearly 15% of all LCVs available were 4×4 pickups.

White vans led in popularity, accounting for just over half of listings. Grey units claimed 16.7%, while black, silver, and blue models followed behind. The average vehicle age fell to 56 months, while mileage also fell by 3.4% to just under 56,750 miles.