In October 2017, commercial vehicle registrations across Europe gained momentum, showing positive growth compared to last year at +10.7 per cent, according to new data published by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).
The ACEA has reported that demand was sustained across all segments, except for buses and coaches. Among the five big markets, Spain (+20.9 per cent), France (+18.6 per cent) and Germany (+14.5 per cent) recorded the highest gains while the UK (-9.8 per cent) performed significantly lower than in October last year.
From January to October 2017, demand for new commercial vehicles reportedly remained positive in Europe, with almost two million new vehicles registered – up 4 per cent compared to last year. Spain continued to drive growth (+15.1 per cent), and so did France (+7.7 per cent), Germany (+3.3 per cent) and Italy (+1.8 per cent). UK demand, however, contracted (-3.9 per cent) over this period.
October 2017 results show a robust increase (+12.7 per cent) in European demand for vans. All major EU markets contributed positively to last month’s growth, except for the United Kingdom. The Spanish and German markets accounted for the strongest growth (+25.0 per cent and +19.9 per cent respectively), while Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) demand contracted in the UK (-7.4 per cent).
Ten months into the year, more than 1.6 million new vans were registered across the European Union, up 4.8 per cent compared to the same period in 2016. Spain (+17.2 per cent), France (+8.3 per cent) and Germany (+5.1 per cent) maintained momentum, while demand for LCV declined (-3.5 per cent) in the UK.
In October, demand for new Heavy Commercial Vehicles (HCV) of 16 tonnes and over grew by 5.3 per cent after posting a decline in September. Results were reportedly diverse across the five big European markets, with registrations falling in the UK (-18.3 per cent) and demand going up in France (+20.7 per cent), Italy (+7.3 per cent) and Germany (+5.7 per cent). In total, 28,521 heavy trucks were registered in the European Union last month.
So far in 2017, the HCV market posted a modest increase (+0.9 per cent), counting 247,065 new vehicle registrations. The Italian market saw the strongest gains (+13.7 per cent), followed by France (+6.0 per cent). Demand for heavy commercial vehicles remained relatively stable in Germany (+0.1 per cent) and Spain (-0.04 per cent).
October 2017 registrations of New Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles (MHVC) over 3.5 tonnes were 3.9 per cent higher than in October last year, totalling 34,336 new units. Growth was sustained across all major European markets, except for the UK.
From January to October 2017, 305,259 new trucks were registered in the European Union – a stable performance (+0.3 per cent) when compared to last year’s results. Italy (+10.7 per cent) and France (+5.8 per cent) did very well so far in 2017, while truck registrations decreased in the UK and Germany (-4.5 per cent and -1.2 per cent respectively).