WITHOUT Government stimulus, the commercial vehicle market is unlikely to grow significantly or hit its ZEV Mandate targets, according to industry bodies and experts.
LCV brands must hit a 10% BEV mix this year under the ZEV Mandate or face significant fines. However, the June market for electric vans was down 16.8% on the same month last year which has dragged the year-to-date market down too and now accounts for less than 5% of the market.
The SMMT described this as “a cause for concern”. It called on the Government to play its part in driving sales of electric vehicles. A spokesman for the SMMT added:
“Manufacturers are working hard to deliver growing numbers of zero emission models to Britain’s roads, through new model launches and attractive offers to inspire the demand of every type of driver, but all stakeholders must play their part to deliver the market transition needed.”
“A new Government provides an opportunity to bolster the market with a strategy to grow the UK’s van-specific charging network at pace and maintain essential fiscal incentives to keep this vital market on track, without which our net zero ambitions will be at risk.”
Even pro-EV lobbying and data firm New Automotive, which usually puts the most positive spin on EV registrations, described the electric van market as “challenging”.
A New Automotive spokesman added: “Ranked by total van sales in June, second, third, fifth and seventh place VW, Vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroen (the latter three all part of Stellantis) are all within striking distance of their targets or exceeding them.
“Meanwhile, first-placed Ford remain miles off, while sixth-placed Mercedes is not far ahead. They were joined by Renault which had a bad month but should meet the target.
“We anticipate that manufacturers’ efforts are focused on the car market in 2024, unsurprising given the lower volumes of vans and the flexibility that allows them to borrow to meet up to 90% of their allowances in 2024.”
According to New Automotive data, which closely but does not exactly mirror that of the official SMMT figures, Ford’s LCV EV mix is only running at 1.3%. This compares to the market’s second biggest player Vauxhall with an 8.6% EV mix for LCVs.
eLCV mix top 10 brands in H1
1 | Ford | 1.30% |
2 | Vauxhall | 8.60% |
3 | VW | 7.10% |
4 | Renault | 6.20% |
5 | Citroen | 5.60% |
6 | Peugeot | 11.90% |
7 | Mercedes | 3.90% |
8 | Toyota | 6.50% |
9 | Nissan | 11.10% |
10 | Maxus | 12.00% |
Source: New Automotive
Pressure on the Government to stimulate the market also came from the retail sector. Sue Robinson, NFDA Director, said:
“Buyers, both retail and fleet, have shown decreased interest in electric light commercial vehicles. This is a concern particularly with the ZEV mandate requiring at least 10% of registrations to be electric. The new Government needs to address the vast price difference for electric LCVs that makes them nonviable for businesses and create a better charging infrastructure to support the bigger vehicles dimensions.
“These figures highlight the crucial need for the next Government to address the concerns of the LCV sector.”
Overall June LCV market
Electric vehicle sales in the van market aren’t the only negative, June saw the first drop in registrations after 17 months of growth.
Despite the 4.5% fall in June, the first half of the year is still up 4.5% thanks to significant gains from Ford (with the new Transit Custom), Volkswagen, Maxus, Vauxhall and Mercedes.
In fact, a large proportion of the June drop was due to Citroen, which saw a unit fall of just more than 1,000 vans.
The French brand is also currently down more than 2,500 LCVs this year and the worst performing make. The next worst is sister brand Peugeot which is down 854 vans this year.
Read our May report on the LCV sector
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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.
