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May registration figures show that LCV sales are down for Ford and the overall market.
- But Ford still occupied the top two places in the best-sellers’ list
- Toyota had a spectacular May despite the introduction of higher taxation on double-cab pick ups
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May figures make it look increasingly likely that commercial vehicle brands won’t hit this year’s ZEV target
Over recent months Ford seems to be able to either have positive car sales or positive van sales, but not both at the same time. May registration figures have shown that this month LCV sales are down for Ford and the overall market.
While Ford is still ahead year-to-date (by just 59 commercial vehicles) May saw a drop of more than 1,300 units, equivalent to a 14.5% fall.
Despite the drop, Ford still occupied the top two places in the best-sellers’ list with the Transit Custom top and full-size Transit second. For the year, these two are joined by the Ranger pick-up in third place.
Erratic electric
Battery electric LCV registrations have slowed in May with a market share of 7.6%. That’s below the year-to-date figure of 8.2%.
The ZEV Mandate figure for van manufacturers is 16% mix in 2025, up from a 10% target in 2024.
The May figures make it look increasingly likely that commercial vehicle brands won’t hit this year’s target and by a significant margin.
While May’s overall registrations were down some 11.8% against a year that’s running 11.3% down, diesel vans increased their mix for the month (taking 87.4%) against the year-to-date figure of 86.5%. However, it should be noted that both mix stats were down on a year ago.
Winners and losers
Stellantis is having a bad time of it this year. All four of its commercial vehicle brands are running lower than a year ago over the first five months of the year.
Vauxhall is running more than 3,200 vans lower than it was this time last year, Citroen is down nearly 2,500, Fiat is down 1,630 and Peugeot is down just 225 vans.
Of the four, Peugeot was the only brand to see growth in May.
Stellantis and Ford aren’t the only brands to be finding the going tough.
The majority of the higher volume brands are down. Of the top eight manufacturers only Ford and Toyota are up on last year.
Toyota, however, had a spectacular May. Despite the introduction of higher taxation on double-cab pick ups, of which Toyota sells the Hilux, the Japanese brand saw May registrations climb more than 1,000 units which brought its year-to-date total into the positive (+235 vans).
While not huge numbers, those brands selling 4×4 commercials also did well, the market segment was up 37% in May. A reflection of this was Land Rover and KGM’s figures. Land Rover is up 404 units this year and KGM up 83.
The Vanaways view on May’s van performance
- Total LCV registrations 22,796
- Change vs May 2024 -11.8%
- Sixth straight month of decline
- Lowest May performance since 2022
Ongoing economic pressure, low business confidence, and the April tax changes are hitting double cab pick ups hard. Not great news for operators in construction, agriculture, utilities, and sole traders relying on these workhorses! It was a strong month for smaller vans like the Peugeot Partner and Citroen Berlingo and a solid showing from the Hilux despite the tax change turbulence. Ford still dominating with three models in the top three!
⚡️ 🔋 Electric Van Market 🔋⚡️
- BEV registrations in May 1,731 (+50% YoY)
- BEVs now represent 7.6% of May’s LCV market, 8.2% YTD
- Still short of the 16% ZEV mandate for 2025
The Plugin Van Grant is helping but it’s infrastructure and grid delays which are holding operators back. Some businesses are waiting up to 15 years for depot grid connections.
Are you feeling the squeeze from supply issues, tax changes or unsure how to electrify your fleet? Vanaways would love to know your thoughts and if there’s anything that’s surprised you about the latest figures from the SMMT.
Liam Nicholas, Director of Business Development, Vanaways
Unit change year-to-date
Top 5 brands for unit growth
Bottom 5 brands for unit loss
1 MAN +405
2 Land Rover +404
3 Toyota +235
4 Isuzu +101
5 KGM +83
5 Fiat -1,410
4 Mercedes -2,134
3 Citroen -2,424
2 Volkswagen -2,546
1 Vauxhall -2,716
Source: SMMT
Read our new van market analysis of April 2025 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.
