Commercial vehicle registrations: – 11.0% in first quarter; -9.8% in March

In March, new commercial vehicle registrations dropped for the fifteenth consecutive month in the EU* (-9.8%), totaling 166,402 units. Most markets contracted, including France (-10.2%), Germany (-18.5%), Spain (-20.2%) and Italy (-20.3%). The UK was the only major one to post growth (+7.7%).

In the first quarter of the year, downturn prevailed across segments, leading to an overall 11.0% decrease in the EU*. Except the UK (+6.6%), all major markets faced a downturn, ranging from -10.7% in France, to -16.4% in Germany, -18.7% in Spain and -25.0% in Italy. In total, 401,838 new vehicles were recorded in the first three months of 2013.

New Light Commercial Vehicles up to 3.5t – “vans”

In March, demand for new vans was down by 7.8%, amounting to 139,413 units. While the UK expanded by 11.5%, France (-9.8%), Germany (-16.0%), Spain (-19.3%) and Italy (-20.0%) all saw their markets shrink. Three months into the year, new van registrations dropped by 9.9% in the UE*, amounting to 332,473 units. Growth in the UK (+11.7%) could not counterbalance the general downward trend as a vast majority of markets declined. The number of new vans fell by 10.4% in France, 15.4% in Germany, 18.7% in Spain and 25.9% in Italy.

New Heavy Commercial Vehicles over 16t (excluding Buses & Coaches) – “heavy trucks”

New registrations of heavy trucks in the EU* decreased by 18.3% in March, with 17,949 units recorded. Results were negative across all significant markets, ranging from -6.2% in the UK to -16.7% in France, -20.5% in Italy, -23.1% in Germany and -27.0% in Spain. From January to March, all major markets faced a double-digit downturn, from -12.5% in the UK to -16.4% in France, -17.6% in Italy, -19.2% in Germany and -20.5% in Spain, leading to an overall 16.7% decrease. In total, 46,985 new heavy trucks were registered in the region.

New Commercial Vehicles over 3.5t (excluding Buses & Coaches) – “trucks”

In March, the sharpest decline was registered in the segment of trucks (-18.8%) where the most important markets contracted severely, by -13.4% in the UK to -14.7% in France, -23.3% in Italy, -23.7% in Germany and -26.7% in Spain. Over the first quarter, Germany remained the largest market (17,913 units), although shrinking by 18.9% compared to the same period last year, followed by France (10,555 units; -15.7%), the UK (9,248 units; -16.3%), Italy (3,191 units; -21.1%) and Spain (2,552 units; -20.5%). In total, 62,154 trucks were registered in the EU*, or 16.8% less than in the first three months of 2012.

New Buses & Coaches over 3.5t

In March, new bus and coach registrations were down 17.6% in the EU*. France recorded 6.6% more vehicles than in the same month last year, while Italy (-13.2%), Germany (-17.3%), the UK (-23.8%) and Spain (-29.7%) all saw their demand decrease. From January to March, France was the only major market to post growth (+11.9%), while downturn in Spain (-4.0%), Italy (-6.7%), Germany (-12.6%) and the UK (-19.4%) contributed to the overall 7.4% contraction of the EU market which counted 7,211 new buses and coaches.