Commercial vehicles: registrations up 5% from January to August

Eight months into the year, new commercial vehicle registrations amounted to 1,129,166 units, or 4.9% more than over the same period a year ago. Compared to the pre-crisis levels of 2008, cumulative results over January-August were still down by 35%.

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.

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.

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.

New Buses & Coaches over 3.5t

New bus and coach registrations were down both in July (-28.4%) and August (-12.4%). The number one and two markets in absolute numbers, France and the UK, both saw registrations decrease. July registrations in France fell by -32.5% and by 34.1% in August. The UK market contracted i by 29.7% and 11.1% respectively. Eight months into the year, the UK (-9.3%) was the most important market in units registered, closely followed by France (-18.0%).