International van of the year report 2023 George Barrow


New van supply shortages in turn pushed up used van prices


taken consumers aback. The Citroen Berlingo, the UK’s most popular small van with 8,321 sold year-to-date up to June, is at the lower end of the spectrum with a modest increase from £20,509 to £20,915 for a Berlingo 1.5 Blue HDI 1000 Enterprise. Similarly, the Volkswagen Caddy Cargo 2.0TDi Commerce increased from £19,280 to £19,945 but looking back to 2021 where the list price was £18,540, the uplift seems entirely proportionate – even modest considering the circumstances. Yet, as vehicles increase in size, so too does the price increase where factors like materials, energy consumption in production and even shipping costs have added signifi cantly to their cost. Britain’s best-loved van, the Ford


Transit Custom isn’t excused from the price hikes, despite the volumes that last year saw the Custom become the most purchased of all vehicles in the country. The entry-level 2.0 TDCi 280 L1H1 Leader has seen its price increase from £24,491 in June 2021 to £27,446 in 2022 and £29,546 this


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year – a 20.6% increase in two years albeit in two stages. By contrast, the Nissan’s NV300 priced at £25,290 in 2021 barely registered an increase in 2022 with its £25,990 price but then leapt up to £30,040 with a 15.6% increase.


Although factors including Brexit will take some of the blame, even products partially insulated from component tariffs, foreign exchange rates and transport costs have seen rises in line with competitors. The Vauxhall Vivaro, with a signifi cant proportion of home- sourced materials, saw the cost of an entry-level 2700 Edition L1H1 costing £24,058 in 2021 rise to £24,728 the year after. Now renamed the Vivaro Prime it costs £28,041 – that’s 16% more than two years ago. And the story continues with large


vans, a L2H2 3.5-tonne Transit has increased by a staggering 32.7% in just two years, up from £31,730 to £32,785 and now £42,115. Renault’s Master has also increased from £31,830 to £36,333 – a 14% hike. Of course, with all of these comparisons there are changes and


revisions to specifi cation which makes direct comparisons almost impossible – due to semi-conductor shortages, manufacturers chopped and changed specifi cation of some trim levels and prices were adjusted accordingly – but there’s a clear trend of signifi cant double-digit price increases across the board. One area, however, where it has continually been talked about prices falling is amongst electric vehicles, as battery production becomes more effi cient and cost effective, yet the price lists would show that we are far from being there yet.


By no means the only brand to have signifi cantly increased prices, a Peugeot e-Expert with 75kWh battery has jumped from £36,345 to £44,485 a 22.4% increase, while the price of the smaller 50kWh battery model has increased 64.8%. Although we often think that battery costs play a signifi cant part of the purchase price of an EV there are clearly other factors at play here, not least the lowering of government grants which has adversely affected the price of electric vans,


adding to the pain felt by consumers. It’s not just the price of new vehicles


either, fuel prices remain high and are still 28% higher than in June 2020 – notwithstanding now signifi cantly lower than the £2 per litre peak of 2022 – but the cost of insurance has risen rapidly too.


According to the most recent Consumer Intelligence report from February, van insurance prices have increased by 15.5% in the previous year. As well as infl ation, the Financial Conduct Authority ban on “price walking” introduced a year ago which prevents insurers quoting higher renewal prices to existing customers than to prospective new customers has led to higher renewal prices for all van drivers.


Ultimately, vans are working tools, there to earn people a living, and while not all industries are able to increase their prices to refl ect the greater costs, there’s a general belief that we are reaching the peak and further price rises (for new vehicles at least) may be unlikely. Let’s hope that is true and that given time prices may even fall.


July 2022 WhatVan? 11


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