Commercial vehicle sales rise despite EV falls

Britain’s new light commercial vehicle (LCV) market grew for the second month running in September.

According to new figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, registrations rose 8.3% last month, making it the best September performance in four years.

Figures revealed that 48,455 new vans, 4x4s and pickups were registered while year-to-date, 267,339 new LCVs have joined UK roads, up 3.6% on 2023 and the largest January-September volume since 2019.

Despite the overall robust market growth, new battery electric van (BEV) registration fell slightly, by 0.5% to 3,020 units. EV sales have now fallen for four months in a row and six months so far this year, with just 14,188 new BEVs registered since the start of January, a 7.7% fall on the same period last year.

Commercial vehicles

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “Growing overall demand for new vans is encouraging as the sector, a barometer of the UK economy’s health, continues to recover post Covid. But while manufacturers have invested huge sums delivering zero emission technology and incentivising its sale, consistently low demand is constraining industry from meeting Britain’s ambitious zero emission vehicles sales mandates.

“For van fleets to go green at pace they need the immediate encouragement – and long-term certainty – of fiscal incentives and van-specific charging infrastructure. Without these, UK decarbonisation ambitions cannot be achieved at the world-leading speed demanded by regulation.”