ACEA statistics show commercial vehicle growth in Europe during April

29 May 2018

Registrations of new commercial vehicles in Europe returned to growth in April, following a decline in March.

Nearly 200,000 units were sold across the continent in various segments as Europe posted a 9.6% rise in sales over the same month in 2017. Although demand in the UK remained more or less stable, it increased in other key European markets.

Spain posted the biggest market growth with a 22% rise in units sold, followed by Germany, which was up by 14.5%. The French and Italian markets recorded a more modest growth, up 6.9% and 1.3% respectively.

During the first four months of the year, EU demand for new commercial vehicles increased by 4.3%, thanks to the strong results for the market in April. New registrations totalled 822,481 units so far in 2018, with Spain recording double-digit growth of 12.3%, followed by France with a rise of 6.4%, Italy up 3.9% and Germany seeing a market rise of 3.8%. UK commercial vehicle demand has dropped in the first four months, however, down by 3.4% compared to last year.

During April, EU demand for light commercial vehicles (LCV) up to 3.5 tonnes went up by 9.8%, with 162,527vans registered in total. New LCV registrations grew strongly in all key EU markets except for Italy, which fell by 4.4%. Spain saw growth of 22.2%, Germany’s market grew 15.4%, France was up 6.9%, and the UK sector rose 3.9% in the month. So far in 2018, 680,930 new light commercial vehicles were registered across the European Union, up 4.3% compared to the same period one year ago.

In the medium and heavy commercial vehicle (MHCV) over 3.5 tonnes market, a rise in registrations of 10.6% was seen during the month. Demand only declined in the UK, down 13.5%, with strong growth in other main European markets, with Italy increasing sales by 41.7% and Spain up by 32.7%.

From January to April 2018, EU new truck demand increased by 4.8%, counting 128,310 units. Italy (15.3%), Spain (11.2%) and France (9.1%) all performed very well, although registrations did fall in the United Kingdom by 8.4% during the first four months of the year.

The heavy commercial vehicle (HCV) of 16 tonnes and over market ended April 11.7% up compared to 2017. A total of 27,189 units were sold, with Italy increasing its market by 50%, Spain up 32.4%, Germany growing its sales by 18.3% and France up 9%. However, UK demand declined by 19% during the month.

Four months into the year the EU market grew by 5.8%, 104,489 new heavy trucks were registered in total. The Italian (19.1%), French (11.3%) and Spanish (10.4%) markets posted the strongest gains over the period. On the other hand, demand fell in the United Kingdom, down 8.2%, and remained stable in Germany with a drop of just 0.4%.