Commercial vehicle registrations show growth in Europe over summer
Compared to the pre-crisis levels of 2008, cumulative results over January-August were still down by 35%.
Looking at new light commercial vehicles up to 3.5t – "vans" – in July, the segment of vans expanded by 5.3%, totaling 116,371 new units. Of the major markets, Italy (-3.7%) and Spain (-9.7%) contracted, while Germany (+6.4%), France (+13.3%) and the UK (+25.2%) all posted growth.
In August, Spain was the only significant market to record a decrease (-12.4%). Elsewhere, growth ranged from +3.9% (Italy) to 11.4% (France), 12.6% (Germany) and 15.5% (UK). Overall, the EU recorded a growth of 8.5%. From January to August, the EU registered 956,413 new vans, or 7.7% more than over the same period last year. The UK recorded a 16.8% increase, followed by Spain (+15.9%). France (10.9%), Germany (+11.4%) and Italy (+11.6%) performed similarly.
For new heavy commercial vehicles over 16t (excluding Buses & Coaches) – "heavy trucks" – in July, 14,051 new heavy trucks were registered in the EU, or 18.2% more than in July 2009. France was the only important market with a decrease (-3.3%). Germany recorded the largest growth rate (+34.8%) among the biggest markets, followed by the UK (+12.4%), Italy (+11.5%) and Spain (+10.9%).
The month of August saw positive results in the majority of countries, including major ones. Germany (+54.4%), Spain (+45.5%) and Italy (+40.5%) performed better than in the same month last year, as did the UK (+17.4%) and France (+12.2%). Overall EU registrations in August were up 34.0%. Eight months into the year, the market of heavy trucks contracted by 9.1%. Of the most significant markets, only Spain (+12.1%) and Germany (4.1%) posted growth, while Italy (-12.5%), the UK (-13.7%) and France (-20.0%) were down.
Moving on to new commercial vehicles over 3.5t (excluding Buses & Coaches) – "trucks" – in July, the segment of trucks was up 11.9% with contrasting results across countries. Germany recorded a double-digit growth (+25.7%), while France registered a 4.0% downturn. The Italian market was stable (-0.7%), while growth was recorded in Spain (+9.9%) and the UK (+9.1%). In total, 20,867 new trucks were registered in the month.
In August, all major markets posted growth, ranging from 5.7% in the UK to 6.5% in France, 28.4% in Italy, 30.8% in Spain and 37.0% in Germany, resulting in an overall 23.7% upturn in the EU. Cumulative results from January to August showed a 7.4% decrease with a total of 151,072 trucks registered. Among the most important markets, Germany (+4.4%) and Spain (+6.1%) posted growth, while the British (-11.3%), Italian (-12.8%) and French (-16.2%) markets performed less well than in the first eight months of last year.