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2024 saw a comfortable amount of growth for the light commercial vehicle sector, with the number of registrations up by 3.0%
351,834 new light commercial vehicles joined the roads in 2024; a 3% increase from 2023. The market was the biggest it has been in three years, and shows steady recovery after COVID and supply issues brought the industry to a low point in 2021.
The latest figures published by SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) include a “robust” December bringing the year to a close with over 350,000 new vehicles registered across vans, pickups and 4x4s.
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2024 : 37,582 2023 : 41,003 -8.3% percentage change year on year |
Almost all categories saw growth, with only pickups and 4x4s showing a decline on 2023 figures. 4x4s fell from just over 8000 in 2023 to 7,200 in 2024 (-9.7%), but this may be explained by natural fluctuations in the smaller sectors. Pickup registrations fell -8.3% to 37,582 units which is a bigger cause of concern for the industry as a whole, as this figure could fall further thanks to new tax rules introduced by the government. As of April 2025, double cab pickups with a payload capacity of one tonne or more will be classified as passenger cars for tax purposes. This means that they will no longer benefit from the tax treatment given to other light commercial vehicles. Sectors that depend on these vehicles, from farming to construction, would face additional costs that may influence their decision to invest.
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2024 : 9,259 2023 : 5,800 59.6% percentage change year on year |
The largest vans maintained their market share, taking 66.3% of all registrations. This represented a 2.1% growth year on year. Medium and small vans both grew too, up 12.3% and 44.5% to 65,148 units and 8,606 units respectively. Rigids over 3.5 tonnes saw the biggest year on year increase, going up 59.6% to over 9,000 units. Last year, in 2023, the figure came in at 5,800 which also represented a healthy increase of 21.2% from 2022.
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YTD 24 |
YTD 23 |
% Change |
|
Pickups |
37,582 |
41,003 |
-8.3% |
|
4x4 |
7,282 |
8,063 |
-9.7% |
|
Vans <2.0t |
8,606 |
5,955 |
44.5% |
|
Vans 2.0-2.5t |
65,148 |
57,992 |
12.3% |
|
Vans 2.5-3.5t |
233,216 |
228,442 |
2.1% |
|
All vans to 3.5t |
351,834 |
341,455 |
3.0% |
|
Rigids 3.5 – 6.0t |
9,259 |
5,800 |
59.6% |
