In February 2020, 14,103 Light Commercial Vehicles were registered according to the latest SMMT figures. With 14,384 units registered in the same period last year, this represents a decline of -2.0%. Year-to-date figures, however, showed an increase of 2.8%, from 36,620 in 2019 to 37,660 in 2020.
Decreases were seen most prominently in vans under 2.0 tonnes, dropping 11.1% to 922 units, and pickups falling from 1,505 in February 2019 to 1,353 in February 2020. Vans weighting 2.5-3.5 tonnes saw a smaller decline of 2.8%.
In contrast, 2.0-2.5 tonne vans saw a strong 9.3% rise in demand, from 2,469 sales to 2,698 this year. 4x4s also had a good February, almost doubling from 25 to 48 vehicles registered.
The Ford Transit Custom yet again maintained itself as the most registered LCV of the month totalling 1,930 units sold, adding up to 5,047 in the year to date. Ford Transit continued as the second highest seller at 1,897 units, maintaining good demand from Ford, with the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter beating the Vauxhall Vivaro into third, selling 1,092 vehicles.
As February is a typically quiet month for the sector, the results are not surprising, but do indicate a slight dip in confidence ahead of the March 11 budget.
With the March plate change happening currently, we can expect an upturn in these figures going into the final month of Q1 2020.
