Registrations of new commercial vehicles in the EU posted the third consecutive month of growth (+7.3%), with 247,000 units registered in total. The continuous demands in the eCommerce sector has led to an increase in new van sales to add gloss to the overall picture.
According to figures released by ACEA, the governing body for European Vehicle manufacturers, this positive result was mainly driven by van sales, which account for almost 85% of the commercial vehicle sector’s demand. Growth was recorded in Spain (+9.0%), Germany (+7.2%) and France (+3.2%), while demand fell in the Italian and UK markets (down 1.3% and 7.7% respectively). Noteworthy, was the strong increase observed in Sweden, where commercial vehicle registrations – mainly vans and buses – almost tripled compared to June 2017.
During the first half of 2018 the EU market expanded by 4.7%, counting almost 1.3 million new commercial vehicles. Spain posted the highest growth over this period (+10.9%), followed by France (+5.0%), Germany (+3.7%) and Italy (+2.1%). The UK market, on the other hand, has contracted by 3.5% so far this year.
New light commercial vehicles (LCV) up to 3.5 tonnes
In June 2018, demand for light commercial vehicles posted robust growth (+8.3%), sustained by very positive results in the new EU member states (+14.9%). In total, 209,364 new vans were registered in the EU, exceeding for the first time the June 2007 result – reached before the industry was hit by the economic crisis. Among the key EU markets, Spain (+11.4%), Germany (+5.7%) and France (+3.7%) did well, but new LCV registrations declined in the United Kingdom (-5.8%) and in Italy (-3.8%).
From January to June 2018, 1,066,703 new vans were registered across the European Union, up 5.1% compared to the same period one year ago. The United Kingdom (-2.3%) was the only major market to post a decline, while Spain (+11.6%), France (+5.0%) and Germany (+5.0%) have all performed well so far in 2018.
New heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) of 16 tonnes and over
June results in the heavy truck segment were 2.3% higher than a year ago, with 27,580 new vehicles registered. HCV sales increased in Germany (+16.3%) and Italy (+11.4%) but declined in the UK (-21.9%), Spain (-11.6%) and France (-2.1%).
Six months into the year, demand for heavy trucks has remained positive across the EU, up 3.9% compared to one year ago. Overall, 159,881 new vehicles have been registered so far. Italy (+16.7%), France (+7.3%), Spain (+5.4%) and Germany (+1.6%) positively contributed to the region’s growth, while demand fell in the UK (-11.6%).