Best ever month for UK new van market in March 2019

The UK new van market witnessed the segment's best ever month in March 2019, with registrations up a staggering 10.6% in comparison with March 2018, Vansdirect reveals all!

March new van registrations

Statistics released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have revealed a record breaking month for the UK new van market in March 2019, showing a staggering 10.6% growth in comparison with March 2018 and represents the third consecutive month of year on year growth for the market in 2019.

Leading the way last month were large vans (between 2.5 and 3.5-tonnes) with new van sales up 10.4% in comparison with March 2018, followed by medium vans (between 2.0 and 2.5-tonnes) with sales up 8.9% and pick-ups (self-explanatory) where registrations were up 7.2% in the same period. Sales of small vans (under 2.0-tonnes) remained unaltered with a 0% change. A total of 66,123 new vans were registered in March 2019 in comparison with 59,764 in March 2018.

New 19-plate vans

SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes spoke of the welcome news of high demand for new 19-plate vans, commenting:

"March is typically the busiest month of the year and it's great to see large demand for the new '19 plate. While the market does fluctuate with buying cycles, it appears buyers are making the most of the fantastic deals on offer. For such exceptional demand to continue long term, however, we need business confidence to improve and that means an end to the political and economic instability besetting the UK."

New van registrations

Ford vans led the way in March for 19-plate van sales with the Ford Transit Custom selling a staggering 11,573 units last month, the closest van was big brother the Ford Transit van with 4,635 new vans sold. In third place was the Volkswagen Transporter van which climbed five places in the table from February. The resurgence of the Volkswagen Transporter meant that the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van fell one place to occupy fourth spot, whilst the Ford Ranger pick-up climbed five places to take fifth spot last month.

In the bottom half of the table, the Peugeot Partner took the bragging rights of the International Van of the Year 2019 trio, with the Partner taking sixth spot from the Vauxhall Combo which fell out of the top ten completely in March. The third van in the trio, the Citroen Berlingo fell one place to take eighth spot last month, with the Vauxhall Vivaro van falling two places in seventh.

The final two spots in the table were taken by the Ford Transit Connect in ninth, which fell four places last month and a new top ten entry in tenth in the form of the Renault Trafic. There was no room in the top ten last month for ninth place entry from February, the Peugeot Expert.

New 19-plate vans on finance

Vansdirect have a massive range of brand new 19-plate vans for sale including all of the top ten sellers from last month and cheap van finance options including van leasing, contract hire and hire purchase. Interested? Simply fill in a contact form or call us on 0800 169 69 95 to get the ball rolling today, we also have 68-plate clearance vans available!