European CV sales enjoy growth in all major markets during February

22 March 2018 The commercial vehicle (CV) market in Europe is on the up as sales in February grew across the continent compared with 2017. During the second month of the year, the sector saw an increase of 5%, with a total of 173,385 leaving forecourts, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). The five biggest markets all posted growth, including the UK, which has had a turbulent time in recent months with new vehicle sales. For the entire CV market, Spain showed the biggest increase over February last year, with a 17.9% rise, followed by Italy which was up 5.7%, France with growth of 4.2%, then Germany with 3.6% more sales, and lastly Britain which increased by just 0.9%. For the year-to-date, the market is already up by 6.5% with 361,447 units sold. Four of the top five markets have posted increases in sales for this period, with Spain (16.6%) and Italy (10.3%) showing double-digit growth. Germany is up 6.4% year-to-date, while France is close behind with a 5.1% rise. Despite posting an increase in sales during February, the UK is still registering a decline in sales of 2.9% thanks to a poor January.

In the light commercial vehicle (LCV) up to 3.5 tonnes market, monthly registrations of new vans in the EU totalled 143,930 units or 5.8% more than last year. All major markets contributed to this upturn. Spain (18.1%) drove growth, followed by Germany (8.8%), the UK (6.4%), Italy (6.0%) and France (3.5%). From January to February 2018, 297,602 new light commercial vehicles were registered in the European Union, up 6.8% compared to the same period in 2017. Spain (17.1%), Italy (10.0%), Germany (9.0%) and France (4.5%) all saw demand for vans increase, while LCV registrations remained stable in the United Kingdom. The medium and heavy commercial vehicle (MHCV) sector saw an increase of 1% in February, with 26,858 vehicle registered. From January to February 2018, 57,936 new trucks were registered in the EU, up 5.4%. The Italian (12.7%), French (12.3%) and Spanish (9.0%) markets performed very well, although truck registrations declined in the UK (16.7%) and Germany (0.4%). For heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) of 16 tonnes or over, new registrations increased by 2.5% compared to February 2017, totalling 22,312 units. Heavy truck demand contracted in the United Kingdom (13.4%) and Germany (11.8%), but sales were strong in Italy (14.7%), France (12.5%) and Spain (10.8%). During the first two months of the year, the EU market grew by 6.4% to reach 48,309 new heavy truck registrations. Italy (20.1%), France (14.0%) and Spain (9.2%) saw robust growth in demand, but registrations declined in the UK (12.8%) and Germany (3.4%). Finally, medium and heavy buses and coaches (MHBC) saw a decline in all major markets in Europe except Spain, which posted a 62.1% rise in sales. This, together with rises in new EU member states, saw the market increase by 1.9% in the month. Over the first two months of 2018, the EU bus and coach market grew by 5.2%, counting 5,909 new vehicles registered. Demand only increased in Spain (45.9%) and Italy (6.4%), while registrations declined in France (16.5%), the UK (6.5%) and Germany (1.7%).