The UK\u2019s new light commercial vehicle (LCV) market has recorded its weakest half-year performance since 2022, with registrations down 12.1% to 156,048 units, according to the latest data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).<\/p>\n
A seventh straight monthly fall in June, down 14.8%, capped a difficult period for the sector. SMMT blamed a mix of economic pressure, low business confidence, and policy changes that are weighing on new orders.<\/p>\n
Demand was hit hardest in the largest van segment, which fell 14.8% year-to-date to 99,790 units.<\/p>\n
Mid-size vans declined 20.9% to 26,408 units, while 4x4s dipped 6% to 4,041 units.<\/p>\n
Smaller vans bucked the trend with a 30.7% rise to 4,907 units. Pickup demand also rose 10% to 20,902 units, but this was driven by fleets rushing to buy before April\u2019s tax rule change.<\/p>\n
Since the update to benefit-in-kind (BIK) treatment for double and extended cab pickups, demand has declined for two consecutive months.<\/p>\n
SMMT said the change adds costs for key business sectors, delays fleet renewal and keeps older, more polluting vehicles on the road.<\/p>\n
It also warned the policy risks reducing total tax revenues due to fewer new registrations.<\/p>\n
The organisation is urging the Government to delay the changes for at least 12 months to give fleets time to adapt and support the shift to cleaner vehicles.<\/p>\n
EV uptake still lags behind targets<\/strong><\/p>\n Battery electric van registrations surged 52.8% in H1, reaching 13,512 units, following a 97% spike in June alone.<\/p>\n Despite the growth, electric vans accounted for just 8.6% of the market \u2013 well below the 16% share required by the Government\u2019s ZEV mandate for 2025.<\/p>\n SMMT said many operators still face barriers such as poor access to charging infrastructure at depots, shared hubs and public sites.<\/p>\n It has called for preferential grid connection treatment and streamlined planning processes to help meet targets and boost fleet confidence.<\/p>\n Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: \u201cHalf a year of declining demand for new vans reflects a difficult economic climate and weak business confidence.<\/p>\n \u201cThat this comes just as industry is investing in zero emission LCVs is particularly concerning. Accelerated CV infrastructure rollout, quicker grid connections and streamlined planning are now critical.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UK\u2019s new light commercial vehicle (LCV) market has recorded its weakest half-year performance since 2022, with registrations…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3091],"tags":[51,2441,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-245015","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-markets","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-markets","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114811475320482617","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}