In the U.S., consumers tend to gravitate toward pickups more so than other parts of the world, particularly when it comes to commercial fleets that have a need to haul heavy loads. However, in Europe, those same consumers typically look more toward vans for those types of tasks, to the point where the Ford Transit Custom has long been one of the best-selling models overall. That trend continued in the first half of the year in the UK as well, as a model that Ford CEO Jim Farley recently called the “Super Duty of Europe” once again proved to be in high demand in that part of the world.
According to new data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT), the Ford Transit Custom topped the UK’s light commercial vehicle sales charts through the first half of 2024 with 4,954 sales, which is considerably more than the second-place Transit at 2,730 units sold. It’s a dominant performance from the Ford Transit Custom, but one that we’ve become accustomed to seeing in recent years. After closing out 2023 as the UK’s top-selling van, the Transit Custom held onto that distinction in the first quarter of 2024, in fact.
Interestingly, however, light commercial vehicle sales in the UK, overall, fell by 4.5 percent in June, which ended an impressive 17-month streak of increases – though it is worth noting that June 2023 sales were artificially inflated, according to SMMT, due to pent-up demand following the pandemic. However, EV van sales dropped for the third month in 2024 thus far, this time, by 16.8 percent in June, which led to a decline in market share from 5.2 percent last year to 4.7 percent this year. Regardless, H1 2024 LCV sales still rose by 4.5 percent and set their best mark since 2021 at 177,620 total units.
“The best first half of a year since 2021 is great news for a market so intrinsic to economic growth, but this optimism will only continue if action is taken to re-energize zero emission van demand,” said Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive. “A new government provides an opportunity to bolster the market with a strategy to grow the UK’s van-specific charging network at pace and maintain essential fiscal incentives to keep this vital market on track, without which our net zero ambitions will be at risk.”
We’ll have more on the Transit Custom soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Transit news and 24/7 Ford news coverage.
No Comments yet