European commercial vehicle market shows sales growth in November

21 December 2017

Commercial vehicle (CV) registrations across Europe have shown growth during November, with three of the big five markets highlighting increased demand.

According to figures released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), the main areas of growth were the light CV and heavy truck segments. Of the big five European economies, Spain saw a rise of 15.3%, with France posting a 9.2% increase and Germany up 6.1%. However, sales struggled in Italy, which was down by 10% overall, and the UK, with a drop of 11.8% compared to November 2016, mirroring the country’s new car market.

Across all sectors, year-to-date demand for new CVs remained positive with almost 2.2 million new vehicles registered, up 3.9% compared to the first 11 months of 2016. Spain continues its position as leading the continent in sales with a gain of 15.1% overall, followed by France with 7.8% growth and Germany with a rise in sales of 3.6%. Italy also sees a modest growth year-to-date of 0.4%. However, the UK is struggling, with demand falling by 4.6% overall.

In the Light Commercial Vehicle market covering all vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes, November saw a 3.3% increase in demand compared to a year ago. Results were diverse among the major EU markets, with Spain up 18.4%, Germany up 8.5% and France growing by 6.2%, contributing positively to last month’s growth. However, demand contracted in both the UK with an 11.1% loss, while Italy contracted by 9.4%.

Eleven months into the year, more than 1.8 million new vans were registered across the European Union, up 4.6% compared to the same period in 2016.

November registrations of new trucks over 3.5 tonnes were rather stable compared to November last year, totalling 32,787 new units. Truck demand declined in the United Kingdom by 14.0% and Italy by 13.5%, while it increased in Germany, up by 6.3%.

From January to November, 337,827 new trucks were registered in the EU, a stable performance with an increase of 0.3% when compared to 2016’s results. Italy (7.5%) and France (6.5%) did well so far in 2017, but truck registrations decreased in the UK and Germany by 5.6% and 0.5% respectively.

In the heavy commercial vehicle market for vehicles of 16 tonnes and over, demand grew by 2.2% in November, with a total of 26,727 units registered. Results were diverse, with sales in the UK falling by 18.3%, and Italy posting a decline of 4.1%. Spain also saw a loss of 1.0%, while sales increased strongly in Germany, up 16.2%, and in France with 14.3% of growth.

Finally, demand for new buses and coaches fell for the third consecutive month, down 8.8% and totalling 3,334 units. Demand contracted strongly in the UK by 25.0%, and Italy, which saw a 24.8% decline. However, the French market posted double-digit growth of 30.8%.

The market growth is similar to new car registrations. ACEA figures show that in the first 11 months of 2017, the market grew 4.1% across the continent, with more than 14 million new passenger cars registered.