Highs & Lows of the Commercial Vehicle Industry

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As Ireland enters the second period of new vehicle registrations, official statistics released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that new Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) registrations are up 8.4% (752) on June 2018 (694), while registrations year to date are down 7.6% (15,386). While New Heavy Commercial Vehicles (HGV) increased 72.68% (316) in comparison to June 2018 (183) and year to date are up 14.6% (1,797). It is a different and more positive story across Europe, however.

Commenting on the registrations figures Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General said:

“Despite Ireland’s strong economic performance, every county in Ireland has seen a reduction on last year, reflecting the uncertain trading environment arising from Brexit. July marks the start of the 192-registration period, with many in the Industry already turning their focus on October’s Budget, which coincides with Brexit. In the current fragile business context, SIMI is urging the Government to exercise extreme caution in dealing with motor related taxation.”

191 June New Vehicle Stats

  • Light Commercial Vehicles sales year to date (2019) 15,386v (2018) 16,651 -7.6%
  • Light Commercial Vehicles sales total June (2019) 752 v (2018) 694 +8.4%
  • Heavy Goods Vehicle total sales year to date (2019) 1,797 v (2018) 1,568 +14.6%
  • Heavy Goods Vehicle total sales June (2019) 316 v (2018) 183 +72.68%

Meanwhile, Commercial vehicle registrations across Europe increased by 6.5% five months into 2019. According to figures released by ACEA, the authorised body for auto manufacturers, from January to May 2019, the EU market for commercial vehicles grew by 6.5%, totaling 1.1 million new vehicles in total. Germany led this growth with a 14.7% increase, followed by the United Kingdom (+7.9%), France (+7.7%), Italy (+3.9%) and Spain (+3.3%).

New light commercial vehicles (LCV) up to 3.5 tonnes GVW

Five months into the year, European registrations of new light commercial vehicles grew by 5.9% to reach 908,291 vehicles sold. Each of the largest markets made a positive contribution to the region’s overall performance: Germany (+14.7%), the United Kingdom (+7.5%), France (+6.9%), Italy (+6.0%) and Spain (+3.8%).

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

January to May 2019 saw 143,694 heavy trucks registered across in the European Union, or 8.6% more than during the same period in 2018. The UK (+17.6%), Germany (+14.8%) and France (+14.5%) posted strong increases, while the Italian (‐8.6%) and Spanish (‐1.9%) markets saw falling demand for new heavy trucks.

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

Five months into 2019, demand for new buses and coaches showed a modest increase (+4.2%), mainly due to the strong performance of the segment in May. The Central European markets (+26.5%) made an important contribution to this positive result, especially given that three of the five largest EU markets posted declines so far in 2019.