- Ford van sales fly in October market
- New Ford Transit Custom driving sales
- October van sales increase again
- Citroen blots Stellantis copybook
FORD may have issues in the new car market, but with LCVs the Blue Oval is having an amazing year. Ford has always sat at the top of the commercial vehicle market, but this year the brand is up more than 9% – that’s equivalent to an extra 8,000 vans registered in the first 10 months of 2024. Ford’s market share is up two percentage points at 32.3%.
The rise has come from the introduction of the new Transit Custom which is now available in both diesel, plug-in hybrid and fully electric forms. Alongside the new Transit Custom is the new Connect and a new Courier.
The growth, in unit terms, is significantly higher than any other manufacturer.
Second fastest growing brand, Mercedes has seen a gain of just more than 3,000 vans so far this year, with Volkswagen up more than 2,200 LCVs.
Source: SMMT
Overview of the October 2024 van market
October LCV registrations were up 2.4% on the same month last year which has helped take the year-to-date figure to a 3.5% rise. The month’s near 27,000 month total was the best October result in three years and was driven in the main by small and medium vans which were both up around 50%, according to the SMMT.
After several months of declining electric van registrations, October recorded a 61.8% hike and equated to 8.4% of the market. However, year-to-date EV van registrations are down 1.9% on the same point in 2023 with a 5.6% share.
The ZEV Mandate dictates a 10% mix for van makers this year.
Pick-up warning
While total LCV registrations are running up and are likely to remain stable for the final two months of 2024, the SMMT has warned that pick-up sales are at serious risk following the Budget which changed the classification of double-cab light commercial vehicles as cars for the purposes of benefit-in-kind from April 2025.
This change will result in a tax hike for both businesses and users of double-cab pick-ups who also drive their vehicles for personal use.
The SMMT urged the government to “reconsider” the change as it puts it at odds with HMRC guidance on the matter from earlier this year.
Catastrophic Citroen sales drag Stellantis down
Stellantis total commercial vehicle figures this month have been impacted by a poor performance from Citroen. With three of Stellantis’s four CV brands in positive territory for the year-to-date (Vauxhall up 942 units, Peugeot up 448 and Fiat up 193), Citroen has dropped a whopping 4,439 units this year; an 18.6% fall for the brand.
However, despite Citroen’s result, Stellantis claimed Peugeot was the best-selling electric van brand in October with Vauxhall in third position.
The group has registered 6,700 electric vans this year.
Top 5 brands by unit increase YTD
Bottom 5 brands by unit decrease YTD
1 Ford 8,046
2 Mercedes 3,032
3 Volkswagen 2,262
4 Iveco 1,735
5 Maxus 1,122
5 Man -431
4 Renault Trucks -496
3 Isuzu Trucks -640
2 Toyota -2,848
1 Citroen -4,439
Read our new van market analysis of September 2024 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.
