Commercial van sales in the US are up 4% in the first three quarters of 2021, trailing the overall market which is up 13%. As a result, the share of commercial vans of the overall US car market is down to 2.6%, from 2.8% in the same period of 2020. In Q3, sales of commercial vans were down 23% in an overall market down 13%. Small vans are up 3% in the first nine months while full-sized vans are up 5%.
Traditional class leader Ford Transit sees a 16% drop in deliveries, making it the worst performer among large vans and dropping its share of the segment by more than six percentage points to 26.1%, the lowest since its launch in 2014. The RAM Promaster is up 47% and reclaims the second place it lost to the Chevrolet Express in the first quarter of the year. The Express, virtually unchanged since 2003, is down 2% and was also outsold by the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter in Q3. The Sprinter is up 15% so far this year, distancing the Ford E-Series, up 5%. The Express’ sibling model GMC Savana is up 12% for the year, but with just 2,215 deliveries in Q3 it’s struggling with supplies. It only outsold the Nissan NV Van, which has been taken out of production and sales will end by the end of this year.
In the compact commercial van part of the segment, which accounts for 18.2% of total van sales in the US (up from 18% in the first nine months of 2020), Ford’s dominance is also shrinking as the Transit Connect is down 22% while its closest two rivals each show double digit growth rates. The Transit Connect was even the slowest selling small van in the third quarter. The Nissan NV200 is up 33% and was the class best seller in Q3, while the RAM ProMaster City grows by 54%. Altogether, Ford has a 41.4% share of the commecial van market in the United States with its three models, down from 49.5% in the first three quarters of 2020. The Mercedes-Benz Metris surprisingly was the #2 seller in the class in Q3, its sales are up 1% so far this year.
US commercial van sales 2021 – Q1-Q3
| Van segment | 2021 – Q1-Q3 | 2020 – Q1-Q3 | Change | 2021 Share | 2020 Share | |
| 1 | Ford Transit | 78.799 | 93.670 | -16% | 26,1% | 32,2% |
| 2 | Ram ProMaster | 49.177 | 33.496 | 47% | 16,3% | 11,5% |
| 3 | Chevrolet Express | 36.589 | 37.190 | -2% | 12,1% | 12,8% |
| 4 | Mercedes-Benz Sprinter | 30.853 | 26.942 | 15% | 10,2% | 9,3% |
| 5 | Ford E-series | 26.467 | 25.186 | 5% | 8,8% | 8,7% |
| 6 | GMC Savana | 13.506 | 12.009 | 12% | 4,5% | 4,1% |
| 7 | Nissan NV van | 11.297 | 10.376 | 9% | 3,7% | 3,6% |
| 1 | Ford Transit Connect | 19.621 | 25.241 | -22% | 6,5% | 8,7% |
| 2 | Nissan NV200 | 16.919 | 12.752 | 33% | 5,6% | 4,4% |
| 3 | Ram ProMaster City | 11.461 | 7.438 | 54% | 3,8% | 2,6% |
| 4 | Mercedes-Benz Metris | 6.914 | 6.829 | 1% | 2,3% | 2,3% |
| Segment total | 301.603 | 291.129 | 4% |
Source: Manufacturers.