While the market faced an economic downturn due to the pandemic and supply chain disruptions linked to shortages and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it must also adapt to changing regulations regarding vehicle emissions. In 2021, over 90 percent of all LCVs sold in the EU were powered by a diesel internal combustion engine.
E-commerce, COVID-19, and European brands drive the market
The market for light commercial vehicles thrived on increased business activities in Europe's e-commerce sector. However, this could not offset a slump in demand from other sectors during the coronavirus crisis, leading to a dip in light commercial vehicle sales of around 18 percent between 2019 and 2020. While sales started to recover in 2021, they did not exceed pre-pandemic levels.Ford is Europe's best-selling LCV brand in terms of sales, with Renault and Peugeot the runner-ups. Ford and Toyota are the only non-European brands to rank among the ten most popular brands in the region. The most sought-after models in this category in 2021 included Ford's Transit Custom, with the Mercedes Sprinter a close second. Ford vehicles sold particularly well in the United Kingdom, one of the largest LCV markets in Europe, while Renault dominated the French market.
Europe's zero-emissions goal needs more effort
As automakers commit to slowly phasing out the production and sale of internal combustion engine passenger cars, the commercial vehicle market is still behind the trend. European manufacturers also recorded the highest average greenhouse gas emissions across van producers in 2020, with the Italian Iveco generating just under 205 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, with MAN and Daimler Truck close behind.Light-duty trucks were the most popular low-emissions commercial vehicle type due partly to charging infrastructure accessibility and their use for the urban and short-distance hauling of goods. LCVs also made up over 7.9 percent of the EU transport sector's carbon dioxide emissions in 2019, less than half that of heavy-duty trucks and buses. Despite this encouraging performance, progress will have to be made to reach the EU's commitment to improving its zero-emission fleet: fully electric LCVs only represented 3.5 percent of the van shares in the EU, far outweighed by diesel vehicles.
