In van-crazed Europe, commercial customers have long gravitated toward vans – specifically, those made by Ford. This is also true of the UK, specifically, where the Ford Transit Custom has long topped the light commercial vehicle sales charts – in some cases, by a large margin. However, UK customers have also long been fans of the larger Ford Transit, and that was once again the case over the first six months of 2024, too.
According to new data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT), the Ford Transit ranked first in full-size van sales and second in light commercial vehicle sales overall in the UK in the month of June, behind only the Transit Custom with 2,730 units sold. This was also the case through the first half of 2024, as the Ford Transit recorded 15,983 sales – once again, second only to the Transit Custom. As Ford Authority previously reported, the Ford Transit even ranked second in Q1 of 2024, so this is a spot that it’s quite familiar with.
On the same token, 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 Ford Transit soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Transit news and 24/7 Ford news coverage.
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