Registrations of light commercial vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes fell by -11% in October, the second consecutive month of decline, as economic uncertainty continues to affect the market, according to the latest SMMT’s light commercial vehicle registration figures.
A total of 25,216 LCVs were put on UK roads in October, compared with 28,494 vehicles in the same period last year.
The introduction of WLTP engine emissions regulations applied to vans and light trucks in September meant that there was a shortage of product availability. There were also more WLTP non-compliant vehicles being pre-registered in August in order to beat the deadline, and these vehicles are now entering the market as delivery mileage used vans.
Sales of maximum size light commercials 2.5 – 3.5t that represent over 60% of the whole CV market were down -19.2%, but demand for small and mid-sized vans rose 2.0% and 31.0% respectively.
As we enter the final quarter of 2019, we are expecting the market to rebalance as the WLTP changes work through the system.
Positively, the market is still up 3.1% year-to-date, however, whilst dealers are saying there is still pent-up demand in the market, many buyers are holding off making purchasing decisions until the current political and economic uncertainty stabilises.
