Sales of commercial vans in the US outperform the market in the first three quarters of 2022 with deliveries down by 11% in an overall market down 13%. The share of commercial vans of the overall US car market is stable at 2.6%. And they’re on an upwards trajectory: after dropping by more than a third in the first quarter, and down 8% in Q2, van sales were up 11% in the third quarter, in a stable market. Large vans have contributed mostly to this recovery: small vans are down 26% while full-sized vans are down 8% after a +12% in Q3.
Traditional class leader Ford Transit sees a 13% drop in deliveries, as its share of the class is down almost 4 percentage points to drop slightly below 30%. The only full-sized van in the top-5 to improve on last year is the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, up an impressive 24% thanks to the new generation. The Sprinter was outsold in the third quarter by the RAM ProMaster which also moves back into second place year-to-date despite a 15% decline in deliveries. The classic GM full-sized vans make a thunderous rebound in the third quarter with sales of the Chevrolet Express more than doubling and its sibling GMC Savana even almost quadrupling. As a result, the Express is almost stable on last year while the Savana is now the best performing full-sized van at +37% for the year. In contrast, the Ford E-Series is down 16% and thus the worst performing large van. We welcome the Rivian EDV700, the all-electric Amazon delivery van with its first 1.700 deliveries. We say goodbye to the Nissan NV which racked up zero sales this quarter.
In the compact commercial van part of the segment, which accounts for just 15.2% of total van sales in the US (down from 18.2% in 2021), the Ford Transit Connect is still dominant, growing its share of the subsegment to 49.4%, up from 35.7% last year. The Transit Connect more than doubled its sales in the third quarter and is now up 3%. Still, Ford is pulling the model from the North American market after this generation as the next generation in Europe is based on the Volkswagen Caddy and won’t be Federalized. That means the class is set to die off, as the RAM ProMaster City also won’t be renewed for North America when the European version moves onto the PSA (now Stellantis) platform of the Citroën Berlingo, Peugeot Partner and Opel Combo. In Q3, the ProMaster City outsold the Mercedes-Benz Metris and is closing in on the #2 spot year-to-date. The Metris showed stable sales in Q3 but is still up 49% so far this year. Mercedes will also stop selling its smallest van in North America, leaving no more players since the Nissan NV200 has already been killed.
US commercial van sales 2022 Q1-Q3
| Van segment | 2022 Q1-Q3 | 2021 Q1-Q3 | Change | 2022 Share | 2022-Q3 | Change | |
| 1 | Ford Transit | 68.333 | 78.799 | -13% | 30,0% | 26.505 | -2% |
| 2 | Ram ProMaster | 42.031 | 49.177 | -15% | 18,5% | 16.742 | -17% |
| 3 | Mercedes-Benz Sprinter | 38.390 | 30.853 | 24% | 16,9% | 11.929 | -6% |
| 4 | Chevrolet Express | 36.528 | 36.589 | 0% | 16,0% | 14.981 | 109% |
| 5 | Ford E-series | 22.223 | 26.467 | -16% | 9,8% | 9.686 | 6% |
| 6 | GMC Savana | 18.469 | 13.506 | 37% | 8,1% | 8.681 | 292% |
| 7 | Rivian EDV 700 | 1.700 | 0 | New | 0,7% | 1.700 | New |
| 8 | Nissan NV van | 3 | 11.297 | -100% | 0,0% | 0 | -100% |
| 1 | Ford Transit Connect | 20.183 | 19.621 | 3% | 49,4% | 6.076 | 127% |
| 2 | Mercedes-Benz Metris | 10.321 | 6.914 | 49% | 25,3% | 3.364 | 0% |
| 3 | Ram ProMaster City | 10.201 | 11.461 | -11% | 25,0% | 4.448 | 55% |
| 4 | Nissan NV200 | 134 | 16.919 | -99% | 0,3% | 0 | -100% |
| Segment total | 268.516 | 301.603 | -11% | 104.112 | 11% |
Source: Manufacturers.