A van desirability index launched this month by remarketing group Aston Barclay has highlighted intense market demand for used Volkswagen Transporter LCVs.

It notes that the Transporter is desirable particularly to SMEs and tradespeople plus camper van conversion firms.

Close second is the Iveco Daily, which Aston Barclay notes is available in the used market at up to seven tonnes payload, so is in demand by heavy industry.

But the Ford Transit Custom, the UK's best-selling van in the new vehicle market, only ranks fifth in desirability, and the larger FordTransit ranks 10th.

Geoff Flood, Aston Barclay’s LCV national sales manager said: “The used van market has risen by 48.3% since Q1 2020 which represents a price increase of £2,381.

"Aside from price we thought it would be good to see what make and model of vans are most popular at auction.

"Ford, Mercedes and Volkswagen all appear on our list, while the IVECO Daily was the only heavy weight van that featured in the top 25.” 

Prices in the used van market have been buoyant for the past two years, and are still set to improve yet.

Toyota’s Hi Lux was the most desirable pick-up, appearing in third place on the Aston Barclay index.

A total of ten panel vans appeared in the top 25, four pick-ups and 11 car derived vans, with five out of the top 25 places taken up by Ford, which reinforces the brand’s continued popularity with used buyers.

Aston Barclay’s data takes into consideration three key metrics: web views prior to sale, number of physical and online bids per sale, and the sale price achieved as a percentage of CAP average.