European CV market shows growth in October

22 November 2018

Following a slowdown in September, commercial vehicle sales picked up again in October, according to figures released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).

During the tenth month of 2018, registrations across the market grew by 6.9%, with all sectors performing positively. In the big five markets, all countries saw growth, except for Italy with sales falling by 13.2%. Germany saw the strongest increase with 16.9%, followed by the UK with 10.9%, France with 7.3% and Spain with 1.7%.

During the first ten months of the year, the European commercial vehicle market has increased by 3.9%, with over two million new vehicles registered across the continent. Spain has so far posted the highest growth in the region with a 7.9% upswing in sales, followed by France with growth of 5.4%, and Germany, where registrations are up by 5.4% as well. However, demand in Italy has fallen by 2.2%, the same amount as the UK.

EU demand for light commercial vehicles increased by 6% in October, almost entirely compensating for the losses in September. All five major markets, except Italy (down 16.6%), saw registrations rise substantially, especially Germany (15.0%) and the UK (14.1%).

From January to October 2018, demand for vans increased by 3.7% compared to 2017, totalling 1.7 million units registered. Looking at the biggest EU markets, Spain (8.8%), Germany (6.2%) and France (5.0%) continued to drive growth, while Italy and the United Kingdom performed worse than one year ago, by 4.5% and 1.6% respectively.

October 2018 registrations of heavy trucks saw a strong increase, with 7.7% more vehicles sold across the European Union. Results were diverse among the five key EU markets: demand fell again in Spain by 7.3%, and the UK by 9.9%, but heavy truck registrations increased significantly in Germany (18.6%), France (13.8%) and Italy (6.8%).

Ten months into the year, demand for heavy trucks is still strong, with 263,356 new vehicles registered so far this year, up 5.1% compared to 2017. The United Kingdom was the only major market to post a decline, with 7.4% fewer sales, while Italy (11.5%), France (10.2%), Germany (3.8%) and Spain (0.6%) all contributed positively to EU growth.

New medium and heavy commercial vehicle registrations in the EU posted the biggest increase since April this year during October, up 9.6%. Growth was largely driven by Germany (21.5%), France (12.1%) and Italy (10.9%), all of which posted double-digit gains, while demand contracted in the UK (down 6.4%) and Spain (down 5.2%).

Over the first ten months of the year, EU demand for new trucks went up by 5% to reach 323,107 units. Italy (10.2%), France (9.1%), Germany (3.5%) and Spain (2.1%) performed well, but new truck registrations declined in the United Kingdom (down 5.1%) so far this year.

October 2018 results for the bus and coach segment showed strong growth (+25.0%), marking the highest increase since November 2015. The Italian and German markets posted the biggest gains, 76.0% and 47.3% respectively, followed by the UK (23.2%), France (8.1%) and Spain (7.3%).

From January to October 2018, EU demand for new buses and coaches grew by 2.8% compared to one year ago, boosted by the excellent performance of most EU markets last month. Demand was strong in both Italy (38.7%) and France (8.2%). Nevertheless, bus and coach registrations fell in the UK (down 9.6%), Spain (down 2.4%) and Germany (down 0.4%), although at a slower pace than before.