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LCV MARKETPLACE | 67 New Light Commercial Vehicle Marketplace looks to increased sales during 2022 but with restrictions

Nationwide sales of new light Commercial Vehicles (lCV) across Ireland in 2021 saw an increase of 32.3% (28,741 units) compared to 2020 (21,732) and +13.4% (25,336) on the 2019 figures, according to the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI). This upward trend is likely to continue in 2022, according to representatives within the industry.

Ford has always enjoyed a dominant position in the annual Irish Light Commercial vehicle sales table. 2021, with its changed business landscape proved very beneficial for Ford Ireland, as the brand’s business models topped 7,000 units over the year to record a strong 28.26% market share, almost double that of the nearest contender.

Renault moved up to second position, for the first time ever, marginally overtaking Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, with Peugeot remaining in a solid fourth place. Toyota was another brand to move up the leader board and will continue to make progress with additional commercial models coming on stream. Opel, having dropped down the table in recent years has enjoyed a resurgence, doubling its sales performance, following a change of national distributor through the Gowan Group, which also now imports the other Stellantis Group brands such as Peugeot, Citroën & Fiat Professional, making for an intriguing and intense in-house competition at Gowan House! Two other brands also benefited from the upturn in new sales with both Iveco and MAN recording sales up 300% year on year.

During 2022, competition within all brands will be as rife as ever, with customers having the choice to purchase either conventional diesel, hybrid (petrol/electric) or fully electric, depending on their application or environmental direction.

However, the global component shortage meant that the full sales potential was not reached last year, and the ongoing lead time disruption will again stem the predicted progress in 2022, say some manufacturers. “Our 2021 sales performance was marginally ahead of 2020 volumes (+1.6%) but demand far exceeded what we could deliver due to production constraints. In reality, our demand was indeed in line with the overall market increases as reported by the SIMI,” commented Colin Sheridan, Managing Director, Citroën Ireland.

“Most manufacturers are now reporting production challenges and some are stating that they will stop production schedules during the year as a result of supply chain issues,” commented Fergus Conheady, Sales Manager, Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles in Ireland.

Paramount to the increase in new van sales is the ongoing increase in e-commerce business, leading to a quicker turnaround in the replacement of new vans due to high milage and extended usage. Colin Sheridan explained further: “We believe that e-commerce and the heavy reliance on supply chains and home deliveries during covid restrictions has resulted in a quicker turnaround for new van replacements. This is also evident from our increased enquires and interest from our business and leasing partners. Despite the unknowns surrounding the ongoing Covid pandemic and chip related production challenges, we do expect further market growth in 2022 but the sales seasonality may differ from previous years based on product availability. Historically sales seasonality is dominated by a Q1 sales peak. We expect a longer flatter sales trend in 2022 and although January sales may be lower than that experienced in 2021, we are confident that the overall market will increase in line with demand as production constraints ease throughout the course of the year.”

Fergus concurs but has a different take on the matter: “In fact, all vehicles in this industry are working harder than ever, and given the lack of new product, they are just driving on. I suspect there will be an increase in high mileage trade vans when production gets back up to speed but don’t expect to see this until next year.”

Des Cannon, Managing Director at the Gowan Group’s Peugeot division, sees a trend happening: “Definitely, there are more and more couriers coming into the business. Standard delivery / courier businesses would have typically changed their van every 4 to 5 years, now due to higher mileage this is down to 3 years.”

Like the truck market, sales of used vans remain very strong. “With regards to the used vans, the market is buoyant and we are experiencing strong residual values on all models at present. Production constraints are reducing the supply of new vans and these supply issues are also affecting the UK market, which in turn, has significantly limited the number of imported vans coming into the country. The current consumer demand, coupled with the lack of new and used supply, is enhancing residual values at present and we expect a similar trend in 2022,” said Colin Sheridan.

“Yes, there is very limited stock and any good vans are commanding high prices at this point in time,” added Fergus Conheady.

what’S NEw FoR ’22 - bRaND by bRaND

cItRoëN

In the small van class, Citroën’s Berlingo continued recent strong performances with an 8% increase on 2020 figures. It was the production constraints on the brand’s larger vans (the Dispatch and Relay) that impacted Citroën’s overall growth, according to Colin, who outlined plans for the 221 and 222 registration plates. “As I mentioned, production constraints on Dispatch van prevented the launch of the e-Dispatch van in 2021 which was a huge disappointment for us given this van was awarded 2021 International Van of the Year. In 2022, we will launch fully electric versions of all our vans. In Q1 we will launch both the e-Berlingo and e-Dispatch vans. The e-Berlingo offers a 285km WLTP range from a 50kWH battery and offers an impressive payload of up to 800kg. The e-Dispatch will be available with a WLTP range of up to 330km with a 75kWH battery option and will be offered in two lengths while providing a payload of up to 1226kg.”

“Later this year, we will also launch the e-Relay which will come with 4 different length and 3 height options, a payload of up to 1890kg and 340km WLTP range thanks to a 70 kWh battery option. All our 2022 van range are EU 6.3 compliant also, ensuring optimum efficiency for our customers as these are the cleanest engines we has ever produced. Needless to say they are all fully complaint with the ever tightening EU regulations also.”

MERcEDES-bENz

A significant development and new addition to the MercedesBenz Vans fleet offering in Ireland will be the arrival of the second generation Citan, which has just been awarded International Van of the Year 2022. Fergus expects the order books to be opened before the Summer once specifications and prices are finalised, with deliveries at dealerships expected from Quarter 3.

Fergus said that Mercedes-Benz is in a strong position with its electric van products, the eSprinter and eVito (the latter winning the Fleet Transport Irish Green Commercial of the Year 2022 award in the medium van category). “We see some customers going there naturally and some dipping their toes in the water out of a sense of commitment and having the ability to advertise the fact that they are now ‘green’! We are currently preparing our eVans Road Map as we do envisage more and more customers heading down the electric route once the higher ranges are achieved,” he said.

PEugEot

Like Citroën, its long-standing sister brand Peugeot is now part of the Stellantis Group (along with Opel and Fiat Professional). The French manufacturer is another looking to grow its electric offerings during the new year. “2022 is an exciting year for Peugeot, as we will grow our eLCV range. The fully electric ePartner will be on sale in April this year, followed by the fully electric eBoxer in the second half of the year,” explained Des Cannon. He sees the most significant demand in e-LCVs will come from the corporate, semi-state business side. “Every large tender currently has aspects of fully electric vans – so majority of take up in 2022 will be seen here.”

oPEL

Since the Gowan Group took over the Opel franchise in Ireland, significant progress has been made in moving the German brand up the market share leaderboard. James Brooks, at the helm as Managing Director at Opel Ireland, was pleased with “the excellent growth of Opel LCV registrations in Ireland in 2021 and indeed across Europe”.

“We’re delighted with this performance and it’s a clear testament to our strategic push and the importance we have placed on Opel LCVs for the last number of years, which returned a strong, continued fleet response and indeed growth in dealer retail business, simultaneously. As to whether the trend of growth in LCVs in general will continue in 2022, it’s very early in January to track year-on-year performance, but we remain very optimistic about continued light commercial vehicle demand in Ireland, given the continued need for home delivery of goods and given construction and trade sectorial demand remains high. The fly in the ointment will however be available supply pertaining to chip shortages and the knock-on factory constraints which remain an uncertainty in the short term, further

compounded by Covid impacts on factory and logistics in terms of human resources.

Opel is also experiencing a growing demand for Electric LCVs – “In 2021, Opel Ireland witnessed a growing number of enquiries with regards to the new Opel Vivaro-e and as such, we had a fleet of vehicles on test with a number of large companies, to give them time to appraise the vehicle. The Vivaro-e was the UK’s best-selling electric van in 2021 and this bodes very well for us. We anticipate a steady growth in Vivaro-e sales in 2022, with demand for the new Combo Cargo-e and Movano-e also increasing our market penetration. On the Used LCV market, the business landscape is changing: “As with passenger cars, the light commercial vehicle market has seen a decline in car park over the last number of years, which has in turn increased residual values. With reduced UK Imports, this situation is set to continue.” In relation to new products, electric power are the buzz words: “The all-new, 100% electric, Opel Combo-e light commercial vehicle joins its Combo petrol and diesel engine siblings which were voted International Van of the Year 2019 and Irish Van of the Year 2020, while the new generation Movano will be available not only with powerful and durable diesel engines, but also with a zero-emissions battery-electric drive. The new generation Movano and Movano-e will both arrive at Opel dealerships imminently.

VoLkSwagEN coMMERcIaL VEhIcLES

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Ireland (VWCVI) Brand Manager Alan Bateson is expecting to see the sector to grow by approximately a further 5% in 2022. “With continued supply chain issues, 2022 is a difficult year to forecast. We expect that the demand within the market will remain strong but supply may limit full growth potential,” he said.

The continuous rise in e-commerce business is a positive development, deemed Alan: “It is evident at this point that most sectors have seen a rise in online sales over the last number of years and have had to adapt quickly to remain viable. This has had a positive effect of Commercial Vehicle sales where not only high mileage and extended usage has resulted in vans being replaced but also company fleet sizes have increased hugely leading to an increased demand for not only replacement vehicles but also additions to their fleets. We see this increased demand continuing as we move forward.”

VWCVI is in a strong position to meet the move toward electromobility. “Yes, we see a huge shift to zero emission driving, this will be a hugely exciting time for the commercial vehicle market,” said Alan, adding: “The new ID. Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo arrives in Ireland in Q3 2022. The ID Buzz promises to be one of the most advanced light commercial vehicles ever produced, and with expected ranges of between 400km and 500km (dependent on battery size and the model concerned), this vehicle is most definitely built for business. In addition, the new Multivan joins the range this Spring. Replacing the Caravelle, the new Multivan is for the first time based on the Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) and boasts a new feature, a plug-in hybrid.”

“The latest edition of the award-winning Amarok is due to make its first appearance in Ireland in Q4 2022. Its multi-award-winning predecessor consistently came out on top in tests against rivals, and the new model is expected to be ready to tackle the toughest challenges with a range of innovative new features,” he concluded.

RENauLt

Paddy Magee, who heads up Renault in Ireland, reported that the brand did very well during 2021, but that dealers could have sold more units, if available. 2022 is going to be Renault’s year, he believes. “At Renault Ireland, we suffered extremely tight supply on Kangoo and Master and as a consequence, we have a strong order portfolio for 2022. We were more fortunate in terms of supply of Trafic which had its best ever year in Ireland in 2021 – with almost 2,000 units sold, Trafic propelled Renault to the #2 spot in the LCV market. Nevertheless, we could have sold more Trafics if we’d had them, so the updated model has started 2022 with a really strong order take,” he said.

“We’ve seen increased demand in two key areas. E-commerce has clearly been a big driver and we’ve taken a lot of orders from businesses in this area. But there’s also been a big increase in demand from the more traditional LCV customers – tradespeople. It’s another area where business is booming.”

With the Master Z.E., Renault was one of the first to market with a large electric van. “Larger businesses have been the most prolific adopters to date of electric power – the user case of regular, repeated routes and availability of alternative powered vehicles means larger companies can avail of the huge savings available to EV users. What we are going to see in 2022 is that new electric LCVs – such as the all-new Kangoo eTech (newly crowned International Van of the Year 2022), which launches in June – will help owner-driver type businesses to embrace zero emissions driving. Thanks to increased range and fast charging, the all-new Kangoo will make sense for more buyers and will be a viable single-driver van.”

Starting the new year off with a product refresh launch augurs well for Renault. “The new Trafic has just arrived in Renault dealerships. It boasts a fresh new face and the cabin is completely refreshed. Combined with an array of new ADAS features it ensures that Trafic builds on its reputation as being a van that drives like a car.”

toyota

Toyota Ireland expects continued strong demand for LCVs in 2022, both on the new and used fronts. Cathal Ryan, Fleet Sales Manager is in agreement with the general statements that industry supply restrictions for new LCVs has resulted in strong demand for used LCVs and better trade-in values for customers. “The cost to change is really favourable for customers. Supply is likely to be the only limiting factor for 2022,” he said.

“We are seeing increased demand