The Ford Transit Custom is the most common van on UK roads, according to vehicle parc data showing the country’s top 10 vans and pickups.
The figures, which show the total number of vehicles currently in use rather than new registrations, place the Transit Custom at the top of the table with 554,581 vehicles on UK roads.
It is followed by the larger Ford Transit, with 495,971 vehicles, meaning Ford occupies the top two positions and has more than one million examples of its two core van models in operation.
In total, there are 5,175,598 vans and pickups on UK roads, with the top 10 models accounting for 2,853,302 vehicles. That means just 10 model lines represent more than half of the entire UK van and pickup parc.
The Volkswagen Transporter takes third place, with 379,185 vehicles, ahead of the Vauxhall Vivaro on 280,298 and the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter on 258,596.
Ford’s strength in the commercial vehicle sector is underlined by the presence of the Transit Connect in sixth place, with 187,745 vehicles, and the Ford Ranger pickup in seventh, with 183,357.
Combined, the four Ford models in the top 10 account for 1,421,654 vehicles, or around 27% of all vans and pickups on UK roads.
| Pos | Make and Model | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford Transit Custom | 554,581 | 10.7% |
| 2 | Ford Transit | 495,971 | 9.6% |
| 3 | Volkswagen Transporter | 379,185 | 7.3% |
| 4 | Vauxhall Vivaro | 280,298 | 5.4% |
| 5 | Mercedes-Benz Sprinter | 258,595 | 5.0% |
| 6 | Ford Transit Connect | 187,745 | 3.6% |
| 7 | Ford Ranger | 183,357 | 3.5% |
| 8 | Citroen Berlingo | 176,582 | 3.4% |
| 9 | Renault Trafic | 165,658 | 3.2% |
| 10 | Peugeot Partner | 165,329 | 3.2% |
Diesel still dominates
The wider parc figures also show the scale of the challenge facing the van sector as it moves towards electrification.
Diesel still accounts for 94.5% of vans and pickups on UK roads, leaving the UK’s working vehicle fleet overwhelmingly reliant on combustion power. Petrol models make up 2.9% of the parc, while battery electric vehicles account for just 2.2%.
In real terms, there are just 113,256 electric vans and pickups on UK roads, compared with almost 4.9 million diesel vehicles.
Plug-in hybrids represent only 0.3% of the parc, while conventional hybrids account for just 0.1%, underlining how little impact hybridisation has had in the commercial vehicle sector compared with the passenger car market.
| Pos | Fuel | Approx Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diesel | 4,891,500 | 94.5% |
| 2 | Petrol | 150,100 | 2.9% |
| 3 | Electric | 113,300 | 2.2% |
| 4 | Plug-in Hybrid | 15,500 | 0.3% |
| 5 | Hybrid | 5,200 | 0.1% |
The figures also help explain why the transition to electric vans is proving slower than some headline sales figures might suggest. While new van registrations are increasingly being shaped by the ZEV mandate, government grants and fleet decarbonisation targets, parc data gives a broader view of what businesses, tradespeople and operators are actually using every day.
With millions of diesel vans still on the road, and long replacement cycles common across the commercial vehicle market, the shift to zero-emission vans will take years to filter through the UK’s working vehicle fleet.
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