UK van registrations fall by more than a quarter

The scale of the fall appears even more dramatic when compared to March last year, when pent-up demand following the pandemic led to the largest increase in light commercial vehicle (LCV) registrations since 1999.

Although March is usually a buoyant month for van registrations, owing to the introduction of the new bi-annual number plate, the sector continues to be hamstrung by wider supply and delivery issues, including the global shortage of semiconductor chips. SMMT argues that the cyclical process of LCV fleet renewal has also contributed to a slower first quarter this year, following a robust post-pandemic recovery in 2021.

While the trend across all vehicle weights within the LCV market was down, large vans did not fare as badly, however, falling by almost a fifth (18.9%) compared to last March, while small vans were down by 70.8%

The increasingly pressing need for van operators to decarbonise their fleets was also in evidence, with registrations for battery electric vans rising by 17.7% year-on-year. Compared with the first quarter of last year, the uptake of electric vans increased by 68.9% to a market share of 5.8%, more than double a year ago.

Denise Beedell, Public Policy Manager, Logistics UK, said: “While the van market as a whole has had a slow start to 2022, the increased uptake in electric vans is encouraging. Although EV vans lag some distance behind the electric car sector, the government’s recent pledge to increase public EV chargepoints tenfold should give more van operators the confidence to procure vehicles that are zero emissions at the tailpipe.”

*www.logistics.org.uk/van

Published On: 21/04/2022 16:00:41

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