Commercial vehicle registrations: +24.0% eight months into 2021; -11.9% in July and -5.4% in August

Total new commercial vehicles

EU commercial vehicle registrations posted two consecutive months of decline in July and August 2021, down 11.9% and 5.4% respectively. This reflected the slowdown in demand for vans, accounting for 83% of total CV registrations, given that the truck and bus segments actually performed better than last year. Sales continued to be driven by Central Europe (+23.2%), while new registrations in the key Western European markets contracted both in July and August.

Eight months into 2021, demand for new commercial vehicles in the European Union increased by 24.0% to reach 1,292,628 units, despite the weak summer months. Each of the four big EU markets recorded double-digit gains so far this year, although at a slower pace compared to the first half of the year: Italy (+35.4%), France (+22.4%), Spain (+16.0%) and Germany (+12.5%).

New light commercial vehicles (LCV) up to 3.5t

After five months of consecutive growth, mainly due to the low base of comparison caused by the coronavirus pandemic, registrations of vans in the EU contracted both in July (‐15.7%) and August (‐8.2%). As a result, the region’s major markets all posted notable declines during those last two months.

Over the first eight months of 2021, demand for new light commercial vehicles across the EU remained positive (+23.6%), still benefiting from the substantial gains recorded earlier this year and bringing the total to 1,078,235 units. The same applies for the key EU markets, with all four posting growth so far in 2021: Italy (+35.9%), France (+23.3%), Spain (+15.8%) and Germany (+12.0%).

New heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) of 16t and over

August 2021 results again show a double-digit increase (+14.6%) in EU demand for heavy trucks, marking the seventh consecutive month of growth in the segment. Germany (+14.6%) and France (+0.5%) made positive contributions to the result, while Spain (-6.1%) and Italy (-4.4%) performed less well than last year.

From January to August, 161,581 new heavy trucks were registered across the European Union, or 33.1% more than during the same period in 2020. The major markets consolidated their positive results during this period: Italy (+39.5%), Spain (+30.6%), Germany (+19.8%) and France (+14.5%).

New medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV) over 3.5t

After posting a 10.6% increase in July, EU demand for new trucks went up again in August (+9.1%). The Central European markets made a major contribution (+42.7%) to this performance, while only Germany (+4.6%) managed to post growth among the largest Western European markets.

So far in 2021, demand for new trucks increased by 27.9%, counting 195,247 units registered across the region. With the exception of Greece and Cyprus, all EU markets recorded high double-digit, and some even triple-digit, percentage gains during this eight-month period, including the four major markets.

New medium and heavy buses & coaches (MHBC) over 3.5t

August was a positive month for the bus segment, with new registrations growing by 17.5% to 3,110 units. Results at country level were very mixed: France (+55.1%) and Italy (+40.8%) saw double-digit percentage growth last month, while demand for new buses in Germany (-4.3%) and especially Spain (-63.2%) was weaker than a year ago.

Eight months into the year, new bus sales across the EU saw considerable growth (+6.7%) thanks to positive results in the summer months. France posted the highest growth rate of the region’s four largest markets (+21.5%), followed by Italy (+14.3%), while registrations fell in Germany (-1.7%) and Spain (-19.0%) at the same time.