When the dominant medium van sector sneezes the entire light commercial vehicle market tends to get a cold – which is what happened in the plate-change month of March.
Sales of vans weighing from 2.5-3.5t, a bracket that covers both medium and large vans, fell by 10.5% to 36,027, helping to drag the overall market down 5.6% to 59,764 units, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The drop in volumes in March, which is traditionally one of the two biggest sales periods of the year, along with the second plate-change month of September, was enough to trigger another of the SMMT’s calls for a return to economic stability, with chief executive Mike Hawes saying: “A decline in the important plate-change month of March is a concern and we need the right economic conditions to restore market stability and encourage buyers to invest in new commercial vehicles.
“The new van market is a key barometer of business confidence and while uncertainty remains, a degree of fluctuation in demand is to be expected this year.”
In the first quarter of 2018 the overall market was down 3.7% to 94,374 with the 2.5-3.5t category falling by 6.8% to 57,392.
The Ford Transit Custom, as ever, remained the UK’s top-selling van in March with 9,397 models finding homes, but this total was a drop of almost 1,000 from the 10,381 the brand shifted in the same month last year.
It should be taken into account, however, that Ford is in the process of replacing the current van with a facelifted version.
The facelifted Ford Transit Custom went on sale in April
There were two other medium vans in the top 10 sellers’ list for March: the Volkswagen Transporter at number three on 4,292 units and the Vauxhall Vivaro at number six on 2,736. These models also made it into the top 10 for the first three months of the year.
In 2017, registrations of 2.5-3.5t vans dipped by 3.1% to 225,837 units year-on-year. The Transit Custom was the nation’s bestseller by a clear distance – with 51,885 units shifted it was 24,823 ahead of its big brother, the Transit. The next-biggest volume medium vans were the VW Transporter (21,898), the Vauxhall Vivaro (18,808), the Renault Trafic (12,391) and the Mercedes Vito (6,472).
The facelifted Transit Custom is now in showrooms, as is the passenger-carrying Tourneo version, following an outing at the CV Show. The van features exterior styling changes and alterations to the cabin, including a new steering wheel, new seats and an 8.0in touchscreen with Ford’s Sync3 infotainment system.
Ford has added a cross-traffic alert to the van’s blind spot information system and another addition is adaptive cruise control with pedestrian detection.
Having started its trial of plug-in hybrid Transit Customs with 13 organisations, Ford plans to move the model into full production next year.
Lifeline for Luton
After a period of uncertainty following PSA Peugeot-Citroen’s acquisition of Opel/Vauxhall last year there was good news for light commercial vehicle production in the UK with PSA’s confirmation that it will continue to use Vauxhall’s Luton plant to build medium vans.
The current Vivaro results from a partnership between Opel/Vauxhall and Renault and has been based on the Renault Trafic since 2001. The next generation of the model, which Vauxhall is set to introduce in 2019, is likely to have far more in common with the Citroen Dispatch, Peugeot Expert and Toyota Proace, which all share the same PSA platform in Hordain, France.
Timeline
Ford Transit Custom April 2018
Ford Transit Custom PHEV 2019
Vauxhall Vivaro 2019
