The electric delivery van market is becoming more competitive than ever. This is a big-money business for large companies such as Amazon, Walmart, FedEx, and many others. It’s becoming so important that it can affect a company’s market valuation by billions of dollars in a matter of minutes or hours. More on this later. New manufacturers are entering this market segment. Companies such as Rivian, GM’s BrightDrop, Bollinger, and others. Take a look at the 2021 full-size van sales in the United States. It points to a very interesting year ahead.
Component shortages caused some companies to lose sales and market share, but some companies (such as Ram Trucks) grew sales in a significant way.
U.S. Full-size truck sales: Full-year 2021
| Model | 2021 sales | 2020 sales | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| >Ford Transit + E-Series | 136,867 | 168,557 | -18.8% |
| >Ram Promaster | 63,361 | 50,556 | +25% |
| >GM Express + Savana + EV600 | 62,104 | 70,239 | -11.6% |
| >Mercedes Sprinter + Metris | 53,472 | 50,999 | +4.8% |
| >Nissan NV | 11,372 | 15,247 | -25.4% |
| >Rivian EDV | 10 | – | New |
| TOTAL: | 327,186 | 355,598 | -7.9% |
Ford is still leading the full-size van market in the United States, but the sales are down -18.8% when compared to 2020. Ram took second place from GM with its Promaster full-size van lineup that got a recent update. GM has launched a whole new company – BrightDrop – with a focus on building electric delivery vehicles, accessories, and tools to enable a more streamlined delivery ecosystem. Mercedes-Benz continues to have success with its Sprinter and Metris vans. There is still way more demand for full-size Sprinter vans than there is supply. Nissan is discontinuing and phasing out its current generation of NV vans.
Rivian has a very large Electric Delivery Van (EDV) order from Amazon, but they are said to deliver just 10 of these vehicles in 2021. Amazon recently announced that it will purchase thousands of electric Ram Promaster vans, starting in 2024. We do not have any specifications for such an electric Ram van, but we know that Fiat already sells an e-Ducato van in other world markets. Around the same time, the Rivian RIVN stock saw a sharp decline within one day – from around $101 per share to around $90 per share.
Naturally, the company that is able to build a variety of efficient delivery vehicles, and build them in large numbers – will win big business. The 2022 Ford E-Transit van is entering the market this year. Will Ford capitalize on this opportunity and extend its sales lead? We will have to wait and see.
Check out the latest 2022 Ram Promaster van in this video walkaround from the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show.
