- August van registrations see five BYD Sharks registered
- Unlike its car brand, Volkswagen Vans are having a strong year
- Kia second fastest rising brand
- Ford and Toyota see further market falls
BYD has entered the UK LCV pickup market for the first time with the Chinese new entrant registering five vehicles in August, according to SMMT figures.
Broker News understands these are Shark pick-ups which will be sold through current BYD retailers. BYD manufactures a range of vans in China for its home market and there has been speculation the brand would launch in the UK market.
The Shark joins the BYD Dolphin car-derived van in the market, a conversion of the hatchback that takes place in the UK.
A Broker News source said a full van range and dedicated network would not arrive for some time. However, the Shark pick-up would officially go on sale this year through the current franchised car dealer network.
BYD announced pricing for the Shark (from £47,995) at the British Motor Show last month, but has yet to give an exact date for first customer deliveries.
Source: SMMT
Electrification hits 16% of the market
August is a typically slow month for new vehicle registrations as buyers hold off for the September plate change and, as such, can be prone to distortions. However, the month hit a record high for battery electric van mix with more than 16% of registrations. The increase has pushed the year-to-date uptake to 11.0%, up almost two percentage points on this time last year.
The ZEV Mandate figure for 2026 is set at 24%, rising to 34% in 2027, however these targets are now under review with any changes not expected until the first quarter of 2027.
Volkswagen - having a strong year in vans
Unlike its performance in the car market, Volkswagen is having a particularly strong year so far. The German brand is up more than 5,000 units year-to-date and is less constrained by ZEV targets than some rivals thanks to the ID Buzz. As a result, VW now has more than 12% market share, up from less than 10% a year ago. It is also the second best-selling brand after Ford.
At the other end of the spectrum, market leader Ford is now down almost 10,000 vans over the first eight months of the year. This drop, coupled to a rising total market, has seen its market share fall to 29.2% from 35.4% a year ago.
Like Ford, Toyota is also continuing to perform poorly, down more than 5,000 vans so far this year. This comes despite a broad electric van line-up thanks to platform sharing with Stellantis.
Top 5 fastest growing brands by volume YTD
Bottom 5 fastest falling brands by volume YTD
1 Volkswagen 5,160
2 Kia 3,811
3 Peugeot 3,739
4 Renault 3,135
5 Mercedes 2,854
5 Citroen -200
4 Iveco -566
3 Isuzu -1,753
2 Toyota -5,013
1 Ford -9,740
Overall market on the rise
The total LCV market was only just up in August with a rise of nearly 0.6%. However, the increase was enough to take the year-to-date rise to just more than 4%.
If the market continues to increase at 4%, the year will end with a total around 327,000 vans, a good performance but still below 2024’s 351,000 total.
Read our new van market analysis of July 2026 registrations
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Tristan Young is an award winning journalist with more than 25 years’ experience reporting on the automotive industry focussing predominantly on fleet and retail. As a self-confessed petrol-head, Tristan has a weakness for car classifieds. When he’s not writing about the automotive industry, he can usually be found outdoors with a small pack of border collies.
