New van registrations decrease in May

New van registrations suffered a fall in demand in May, as the new van market continues to stabilise after record breaking demand!

Statistics released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have today discovered an increase of over 4,000 in new van registrations from April 2017, but a noticeable decrease in new van registrations of 5.3 percent from May 2016. 26,982 new van registrations were made last month, in comparison with 28,480 from May 2016.

New van registrations

The decrease in May follows a steeper decline for April in comparison with 2016. SMMT Chief Executive, Mike Hawes attributed the decline to the market rebalancing after periods of record growth:

"LCV registrations have experienced a period of stellar growth in recent years, so this decline was expected as the market stabilises. To put this performance into context, overall demand remains strong with year-to-date registrations up 51.2 percent compared with the same period five years ago, and we expect demand to remain stable at similar levels throughout the year."

Large vans suffered the largest decline in new registrations in comparison with May 2016, a decrease of 10.1%. Sales of medium vans suffered a smaller decrease of 2.1%, following a very small decline of 0.2% in April. New small vans registrations suffered the smallest decline of 0.8% in comparison with May 2016, a far less steep decline than the 37.5% shown in April 2017, with only 20 less small vans sold in May 2017 in comparison with 2016.

Not all van types suffered a decline in May 2017 however, pick-up vans continued their momentum gained with an increase in sales of 4.5% in April 2017, with a staggering increase of 26.2% from May 2016.

New van registrations this year to date have fallen 5.0 percent overall, however demand for new vans continues at a high level.

May's best-selling new vans

The top 10 best-seller chart shows some changes, however the top two selling vans from April 2017 remain the same, with Ford having the two best-selling new vans of May 2017. The new Ford Transit Custom was the UK's best-selling new van last month, selling 3,902 units, ahead of its 'big brother' the Ford Transit in second. The Mercedes Sprinter replaced the Volkswagen Transporter in third in the table, with the Volkswagen falling to fourth.

In fifth and sixth in the table were two new van additions to the top ten, with the Citroen Berlingo in fifth and the Ford Ranger pick-up in sixth. As a result of these two new entries, the Peugeot Partner fell one place to seventh in the table, whereas the Vauxhall Vivaro dropped three places to eighth. In ninth; another of Peugeot's new van range, the Peugeot Boxer remained unmoved for another month, showing its consistency. In tenth place, the Ford Transit Connect dropped two places. More significant casualties for May 2017 were the Nissan Navara (seventh last month) and the Renault Trafic (tenth last month) both dropping out of the top ten for May 2017. The seventh best-selling van this year to date, Vansdirect expects the Renault to come back fighting!

New van finance

At Vansdirect we have a fantastic range of cheap new van deals available, with flexible finance options which include: contract hire, van leasing and hire purchase Call Vansdirect NOW on 0845 021 0444 or submit your details online!