UK LCV market ends the year on a high amid wider declines – Autovista24
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The UK new light-commercial vehicle (LCV) market ended 2025 on a positive note. December returned the first registration increase in over 12 months. Despite this, overall volumes for the year saw double-digit declines. Andy Picton, specialist residual value analyst at Glass’s, reviews the data with Autovista24 web editor James Roberts.
December marked a return to growth for the UK LCV market, according to SMMT data. Deliveries of LCVs increased by 1.7% in the month, with 27,694 new vans, pickups and chassis variants reaching customers. This equated to 473 units more than 12 months previously.
However, between January and December 2025, the sector witnessed a 10.3% year-on-year drop. With 315,422 new LCVs registered, this was down from 351,834 in 2024, a deficit of 36,412 units.
The 4×4 sector saw positive returns, with registrations up 112.2% to 802 units. This was also the case for vans weighing between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight (GVW). This sector saw a 4.6% registration increase compared with December 2024. These 18,459 units accounted for 66.6% of all units registered during the month.
The pickup sector, vans under 2 tonnes GVW, and LCVs between 2 and 2.5 tonnes GVW recorded declines of 6.2%, 8.3%, and 9.9%, respectively.
A difficult economic climate hindered fleet investment across 2025, with demand down for the year across many of the sectors. The pickup sector recorded a 0.7% decline overall, while vans under 2 tonnes GVW rose 1.9%.
LCVs weighing between 2 and 2.5 tonnes GVW, plus those between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes GVW, saw registrations decline by 20.7% and 9.8%, respectively. With 210,262 registrations, LCVs weighing between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes GVW made up over two-thirds of all deliveries during 2025.
Ford recorded another positive month in December, holding the top two positions. The Transit Custom and Transit totalled 3,553 and 2,272 units, respectively. The Volkswagen (VW) Transporter finished third with 2,138 deliveries. Then followed the Isuzu D-Max pickup in fourth, shifting 1,520 vehicles, and the Vauxhall Vivaro fifth with 1,097.
Sixth went to the Renault Trafic, with 1,087 units, and the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter claimed seventh with 1,072 deliveries. The VW Crafter took eighth with 990 units, the Ford Ranger ninth with 967 units, and the Citroën Berlingo rounded out the top 10 with 798 units.
2025 capped another successful year for Ford. The Transit Custom, Transit, and Ranger swept the end-of-year podium. With 49,774 units sold, the Transit Custom finished as the second-best-selling vehicle overall in the UK. It was only beaten by the Ford Puma.
The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter finished the year in fourth with 13,605 registrations. Then came the Vauxhall Vivaro in fifth with 12,315 deliveries. The Renault Trafic ended up sixth with 11,703 units, ahead of the VW Transporter, which accounted for 10,827 registrations. The VW Crafter took eighth with 9,778 units, the Citroën Berlingo nestled in ninth with 9,487 units. Its sibling, the Peugeot Partner, sealed the top 10 with 9,450 units.
December saw registrations of battery-electric vans up to 4.25 tonnes GVW decline by 11%, compared with 12 months ago. The 3,009 units registered resulted in a monthly market share of 10.7%.
Despite this monthly decline, the bigger picture was brighter. Deliveries of battery-electric vans in 2025 rose by an impressive 36.2%, with 30,169 registrations, a new record. Amid a contracting market, this growth is significant. It has been driven by significant industry investment, with all manufacturers producing electric vans.
The battery-electric van market share at the end of 2025 increased to 9.5% from 6.3% in 2024. However, this fell well short of the mandated 16% zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) target for the year.
Operators continue to be under pressure to increase their adoption of all-electric vans. However, hurdles include increasing acquisition costs, plus a scarcity of van-suitable public charging infrastructure.
Coupled with this, inadequate grid connections at depots are often cited as major obstacles to the switch. Until this improves, the adoption of electric LCVs will grow gradually rather than rapidly.
Achieving the 2026 mandated target of 24% remains a tall order. However, the extension of the Plug-in Van and Truck Grant, the new Depot Charging Scheme, as well as proposed planning reform for private chargers, could help.
More generally, an urgent review of the transition is essential. This will help ensure the regulation and support measures to deliver the required demand without undermining wider sustainability.
Ford’s positive LCV market momentum spread to its electric vans. The manufacturer accounted for over 35% of fully-electric vans registered in December. VW followed with a 22.8% share, while Mercedes-Benz ended up third with an 11.5% hold.
Toyota took fourth, achieving a 9.3% market share. Meanwhile, Maxus ended December in fifth with 5.1%. Peugeot took sixth with 3.6% of the market. Renault finished seventh, 0.2 percentage points (pp) behind with 3.4%. Vauxhall ended the month eighth, holding onto 2.8%, while Citroën and Renault Trucks closed with 1.1%.
By range, the Ford E-Transit Custom led the way, accounting for 19.8% of all registrations. The VW e-Transporter and ID.Buzz Cargo finished second and third, with 12.7% and 10%, respectively.
Between January and December, Ford finished 2025 at the summit of the electric van stakes. The company registered 8,627 new electric LCVs across three different product ranges, capturing 28.6% of the market.
VW came second in 2025, having registered 6,217 vehicles, with a 20.6% share over two different product ranges. Peugeot claimed third, with 3,233 new all-electric vans registered over three different product ranges, securing a 10.7% share.
The plug-in hybrid van segment saw Ford, LEVC, Toyota and WV register a combined 1,072 units. Ford led the way with 485 Transit Custom, 325 Ranger and 104 Transit Connect plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs). Toyota followed with 121 Corolla Commercials, then Volkswagen with 25 Caddy PHEVs, while LEVC added 12 VN5 PHEV vans. Ford completed a dominant year by claiming a 79% share of the 11,946 hybrid LCVs registered during 2025.
Used-LCV demand was strong during 2025, with more of the same expected during the first quarter of 2026. Despite a shorter working month in December, demand at auction remained strong, with competitive bidding for the best presented stock.
UK businesses are increasingly looking to keep hold of their vehicles for at least 60 months. This is resulting in a pool of vehicles that, when entering the market, are typically harder worked. This means more damage and higher miles. Those vehicles in retail-ready condition and supported by a full-service history remain scarce. Buyers are willing to pay premiums to take ownership.
Medium and large vans, along with dropsides, tippers, and Luton box vans, performed strongly during 2025. Similarly, there has been a growing acceptance throughout the year of older and higher-mileage vehicles. This is assuming that the asking price is commensurate with the condition.
The shorter working month of December saw the number of auction sales fall by nearly 25% year on year. On a more positive note, average sale prices increased by just over £1,000.
Part of the reason for the sizeable increase was due to a much younger vehicle portfolio. Compared with November, average age fell by 10.9 months to 69.5 months, the lowest point in half a year. Average mileage also fell by 2,862 miles to 74,078 miles. While down, first-time conversion rates remained relatively healthy at 84.3%.
During December, sales of Euro 6 vehicles accounted for 85.6% of total volumes, while Euro 5 sales fell by over half to 10.2%. Medium vans led demand with 35.3% of sales, followed by large vans at 25.9%, and small vans at 25.3%.
The 4×4 pickup sector claimed 13.4% of the market, an increase of 2.5pp on November. The segment commanded the highest average sales price at nearly £14,900. Large vans covered more distance than any other vehicle type in December at an average of 80,779 miles. This was down over 12,800 miles from the previous month.
Year-on-year, sales were up 15.9%, while average sales prices increased by a healthy 22.2%. Average mileage across 2025 reduced by nearly 7.5%. The average age of those vehicles sold fell from 80.3 months in December 2024 to 69.5 months at the end of 2025. This marked an improvement of 13.4%. First-time conversions improved 0.5pp between January and December.
Sales of electric vans increased 12.7% in December, despite the average age of those sold rising from 0.9 months to 32.6 months. Average mileage went from 15,669 miles to 20,500 miles. First-time conversion rates rose from 72.5% to 74.7% in the month. However, average sale prices fell to just over £10,550.
The medium-van sector accounted for 58.2% of all sales in December. Small vans accounted for 27.8%, and the large-van sector 13.9%. The highest mileages were covered in the medium-van sector, averaging over 23,200 miles. The lowest mileages were recorded in the large-van sector at just under 13,500 miles.
Large electric vans attained the highest average sales price at just over £12,600. The highest first-time conversion rate of 81.8% was achieved in the small-van sector. Just over 58% of all electric vans sold in December were between two and four years old.
A positive year for electric van sales saw volumes increase by 53.1%, while average sales prices increased by a healthy 15.7%. Average mileage in 2025 fell by nearly 4.5%. The average age of sold vehicles fell from 53.9 months in December 2024 to 32.6 months at the end of 2025. This ensured an improvement of 39.5%.
The number of used vehicles observed for sale in the retail market fell by nearly 8% in December. Diesel models made up the bulk of stock at 89.7%. This was down from 93.3% 12 months prior.
Battery-electric LCVs accounted for 5.5%, ahead of PHEVs at 2.3%, and petrol 2.1%. LCVs with manual gearboxes accounted for 66.3%, and automatic transmissions 33.7%.
Panel vans made up 55.4% of all LCVs on sale, 14.6% were 4×4 pickups, and 9.2% crew vans. Minibuses held a 4.5% share, tippers 1.6%, dropsides 1.5%, and Luton vans 1.3%.
Of all the LCVs on sale, 71.1% had mileages of 70,000 miles or under, while 12.3% had mileages of more than 100,000 miles.
42.3% of vehicles listed were priced at £20,000 or more, 37.1% were priced between £10,000 and £20,000. 16.5% sat in the £5,000 to £10,000 range. 4.1% of vehicles were priced below £5,000, down from 5.5% last month.
White vans led in popularity, accounting for 48.8% of all listings. Grey vans held with 17.7%, black made up 10.5%, silver 9.8%, blue 6.4%, and red 2.1%. The average vehicle age remained the same as in November at 55 months, while average mileage fell by nearly 1.4% to 55,100 miles.
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