Commercial vehicles: demand rise in Europe maintained through the summer

The demand for new vans went up by 15.6% in July and by 11.9% in August, and over eight months it was 7.7% higher than last year. The truck market (above 3.5 tonnes) has been surging since May this year, thanks to the general economic upturn and an increase in orders because of last year’s distinct fall in purchases following the introduction of the digital tachograph in May 2006. The registrations of new trucks rose by 27.5% in July and 20.8% in August, reaching a cumulative increase of 5.3% by the end of the period. Bus and coach registrations declined between January and August by 4.9% despite good results in July (+12.9%) and August (+3%).

New Light Commercial Vehicles up to 3.5t (vans)

With 181,305 new vans registered in Europe (EU23+EFTA) in July, the market went up by 15.6%. This result was positively influenced by one extra working day in the whole region (two in Belgium and France). Western Europe reported a 14.2% rise and registrations in the new EU member states surged by 34.2%. Almost all the EU countries posted two-digit growths in July. France was the most dynamic among the main markets (+24.8%), followed by Germany (19.1%), the UK (14.1%), Italy (12.1%) and Spain (3.2%). Only Denmark and Portugal saw their registrations drop (–20.3% and –19.5%, respectively). All the new member states performed better than July last year, with Slovakia (+55.6%) and Slovenia (+52.7%) leading the way.

New Heavy Commercial Vehicles over 16t (excluding Buses & Coaches)

New heavy truck registrations in Europe rose by 31.6% in July, with the new member states soaring by 79.6% and Western Europe by 26.4%. The truck market has been booming since May 2007, thanks to the general economic upturn and an increase in orders because of last year’s distinct fall in purchases following the introduction of the digital tachograph. All EU markets experienced a strong upturn in their heavy truck registrations. Demand in Germany reached record level (5,117 trucks, +52.2%) and the remaining large markets posted solid growths: UK +26%, Spain +17.2%, Italy +6.4% and France +6.2%.

New Commercial Vehicles over 3.5t (excluding Buses & Coaches)

The market developments in the heavy truck sector were mirrored by the registrations of new commercial vehicles above 3.5 tonnes. Europe’s registrations went up by 27.5% in July, reaching a total of 35,622 new trucks. Western Europe saw registrations increase by 23.3% thanks to a solid growth in most of the EU15 countries. The results in the main markets ranged between +0.9% in Italy to +36.9% in Germany. Many of the new EU members almost doubled their last year’s result and reached an overall gain of +67.3%.

New Buses & Coaches over 3.5t

New bus and coach registrations in Europe (EU21+EFTA) increased in July by +12.9%. All the EU15 countries positively contributed to this result (+18.9%) while the new member states saw their registrations decline (–43.1%).