Commercial vehicles: registrations drop 32.4% in 2009

In total, 1,706,996 vehicles were registered throughout the year. December registrations decreased by 10.6%, reflecting a more moderate drop in demand for vans than in the months before.

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

Demand for vans was down 6.3% in December, amounting to 126,703 units and mainly driven by West European markets (-1.4%). While Spain (+19.7%) posted growth for the second consecutive month, France (+15.3%) recorded its first positive figure in December and also ended the year in the plus, unlike Italy (-0.8%), the UK (-14.4%) and Germany (-17.3%). In the new EU Member States, the downturn reached 37.0% in December, ranging from -74.7% in the Czech Republic to -10.6% in Slovenia. Romania (+42.3%) was the only country to post growth. From January to December, new van registrations totaled 1,421,770 units, or 30.3% less than in 2008. The decrease was 27.9% in Western Europe and 49.7% in the new EU Member States, ranging from -18.8% in France to -77.7% in Latvia. Looking at the major markets, France performed best (-18.8%), followed by Italy (-21.5%), Germany (-24.1%), Spain (-35.7%) and the UK (-35.8%). In the new EU Member States, the bad performance of the Czech Republic (-67.6%) led Poland (-28.6%) to become the largest market in 2009.

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

The segment of heavy trucks fell by 39.4% in December, composed of a 42.6% decrease in Western Europe and 14.2% in the new EU Member States. Except for Poland (+24.9%), the important markets all contracted. The Spanish shrunk by 28.6%, followed by the German (-29.2%), the French (-41.7%), the Italian (-54.4%) and the British (-63.5%). Over the year, 164,645 new trucks were registered, or 47.9% less than in 2008. Among the largest markets, the Netherlands contracted by 36.2%, France and Germany by 40.7%, the UK by 44.9%, Italy by 50.4%, Poland by 61.2% and Spain by 66.6%.

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

December results showed a 33.9% decrease in truck registrations in Europe*. Of the most important markets, only Poland grew (+4.6%) while Italy (-47.6%), the UK (-46.9%), France (39.8%), Spain (-23.6%) and Germany (-22.9%) contracted significantly. From January to December, Europe* recorded 245,915 new trucks. The 40.2% decline in Western Europe and the 63.6% drop in the new EU Member States resulted in an overall 43.8% downturn. Compared with 2008, the Netherlands (-35.5%) performed best, followed by Germany (-36.5%), France (-37.5%), the UK (39.5%), Italy (-44.6%), Poland (-54.9%) and Spain (-62.0%).

New Buses & Coaches over 3.5t

New registrations of buses and coaches were down 12.1% in December. The French and German markets expanded by 49.5% and 22.3% respectively, while Italy (-41.5%), the UK (-22.6%) and Spain (-14.8%) saw the number of new registrations decrease. In 2009, new bus and coach registrations amounted to 39,311 units, or 19.5% less than in the previous year. France was the only important market to post growth (+12.4%) as the downturn hit Germany (-4.7%), the UK (-23.5%), Spain (-23.8%) and Italy (-27.4%).