INVESTIGATION
LCV boom sees busiest April ever – but will it last? Van franchises are seriously hot property at the moment, helped by a shift in consumer habits. However, supply is struggling to keep up with demand.
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ack in April 2020, the best-selling vehicle in the UK was the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. A reflection on the bizarre times in which we were living and, to a lesser extent, continue to do so, as car dealerships shut up shop and supermarkets clamoured to catch up with the incredible demand for online shopping. Wind the clock forward a year and a nervous optimism has returned to the car industry, but alongside it demand for light commercials continues unabated. Indeed, the light commercial vehicle market recorded its busiest April this year since records began, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). It said that 30,440 new vans were registered during the fourth month of the year – an eightfold increase on the same month of 2020. Registrations were also ahead of the five-year average, with April 2021 up by 23.2 per cent. With some 127,796 vans registered so far in 2021, uptake has returned to levels last seen in 2019 – and they’d be even higher if supply could keep up with demand. SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: ‘Businesses are investing in new vehicles as they grow in confidence, driven by a more positive economic outlook stimulated by the vaccine rollout. ‘There has been particular uplift in larger van uptake, both from established demand in home delivery, but also more broadly as other sectors emerge from lockdown looking to maximise their payload efficiency. ‘With a fragile supply chain still subject to risk of disruption and ongoing Covid restrictions, there is some way to go before we can say business is back to normal, but after a very difficult year, the outlook is much brighter.’ From a dealer’s perspective, a van franchise is seriously hot property right now, not least because the experience of multiple national lockdowns has changed consumer habits forever. According to research from Deloitte*, the first half of 2020 saw the equivalent of five years of growth in online shopping, and despite the high street now being largely reopen, it’s a trend that’s showing no signs of reversing any time soon. ‘We have a new baseline for e-commerce sales which will grow through 2021 and beyond, bolstered by increasing investments in online and more and more consumers feeling the benefits of online shopping,’ said the report. What this means for the LCV market is that demand continues to outstrip supply, with 10 | CarDealerMag.co.uk
VANS SOLD IN APRIL 2021 Model
Ford Ranger
Regs
Ford Transit Custom
4,581
Ford Transit
2,641
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
2,099
Volkswagen Transporter
1,661
Ford Ranger
1,538
Vauxhall Vivaro
1,528
Citroen Berlingo
1,075
Vauxhall Combo
1,033
Peugeot Partner
977
Citroen Relay
965
