One of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a sharp rise in demand for home deliveries and this has fuelled a rise in the use of Light Commercial Vehicles. It means that hard working vans are now making up an increasingly important part of the vehicle service and repair market and has created a thirst for LCV technical information.

Solera’s Autodata is the most used aftermarket technical information solution providing vital data to service, maintain, diagnose, and repair vehicles. Since April 2019, Autodata’s workshop application has registered a 15.3% rise in technical data in the LCV category. This includes information on repair times, wiring diagrams, tyre and brake servicing, fluids and capacities, and diesel exhaust gas aftertreatments.

Autodata has information on nearly 4,000 vehicles in the van and LCV variants category. In its recent Autodata Most Serviced Vehicle report, the highest total page views for an individual LCV model was the Volkswagen Transporter T5 (09-15) which was accessed more than 100,000 times worldwide. The 2006 version of the Ford Transit was Autodata’s second most serviced vehicle of 2019, and notably took the top spot in Ireland and the United Kingdom.

It is estimated that home food deliveries grew by 192% from February to May of this year, meaning a sharp increase in LCV use and a consequential rise in maintenance and repair needs.

Michael Landless, Head of Product for Autodata commented, “While new vehicle registrations for light and heavy-goods vehicles have decreased, we’ve seen an uplift in the aftermarket, with technicians accessing significantly more LCV data. This likely reflects two trends, an overall aging of the fleet, with vehicles requiring more frequent maintenance or more complex repair, as well as individual vehicles doing greater mileage, and fleet managers putting older vehicles back into active use to support an increase in parcel deliveries.”

Chris Wright, Managing Director of Autodata, said, “We’re constantly working to improve and refine the Autodata product to ensure it remains the leading solution for maintenance and repair. OEMs don’t stop updating technical information once a vehicle is out in the world. It’s updated over time as components age and recommendations change for how frequently they should be serviced and what service items are required. We’re committed to supporting workshops and fleet managers to ensure the data you get for vans and LCVs is the most accurate and up-to-date on the market.”