The latest registration figures for light commercial vehicles released this week provide a welcome boost for the sector but the uplift is not across the board. In all, 21,716 vans, pickups and 4x4s joined the road in April, a 6.8% increase year-on-year that follows a tough start to the year.
Growth has overwhelmingly come in the large van arena, however, which now accounts for more than 70% of registrations. Other segments remain under pressure, particularly pickups where registrations are down by more than half as double cabs are now treated as cars for benefit-in-kind purposes. SMMT is urging government to reverse this measure and to start a critical and realistic review of transition targets.
While it’s also great to see that battery electric van registrations rose by 44.7% in April that still means a market share of just over 11% – less than half of the 24% target mandated for 2026. Year-to-date, the market share is just 9.4%.
The product is available – more than half of the UK’s LCV model offering is available with a plug – along with strong discounts, a Plug-in Van Grant and increased weight limits of 4.25 tonnes for B-licence holders that can mean more payload.
However, uptake is being held up by higher upfront costs, rising energy prices, and a charging infrastructure that does not cater for the sector – given the lack of enough pull-through bays for the those larger vans and anything with a trailer
April’s figures do move in the right direction but these barriers need to be addressed if the numbers are to continue accelerating and get anywhere close to matching the regulatory ambition.
