The EU market for commercial vehicles expanded for the fourth month in a row, with 215,497 units registered across the region – up 7.8 per cent compared to last year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).
The EU’s five largest markets all saw strong gains, with France (+12.7 per cent), Italy (+11.6 per cent) and Germany (+10.1 per cent) posting double-digit growth.
From January to April 2019, commercial vehicle registrations grew by 5.8 per cent, counting 871,100 new vehicles in the European Union. Germany drove the growth with a 12.1 per cent increase, followed by the UK (+8.3 per cent), France (+6.5 per cent), Spain (+3.8 per cent) and Italy (+3.4 per cent).
In April 2019 – for new light commercial vehicles (LCV) up to 3.5 tonnes – the van segment, making up nearly 82 per cent of EU commercial vehicle demand, posted the strongest gains (+8.4 per cent). Each of the five major markets recorded solid growth last month, with Italy (+15.6 per ent), Germany (+13.2 per cent) and France (+12.4 per cent) showing the highest increases, followed by Spain (+7.8 per cent) and the UK (+4.7 per cent).
Four months into the year, registrations of new LCVs grew by 5.9 per cent to reach 721,303 vans. Demand was sustained by the major EU markets, and Germany (+12.4 per cent) in particular, but the Central European markets (+10.9 per cent) also made a significant contribution.
During the fourth month of the year, demand for new heavy trucks saw a robust increase (+5.6 per cent) compared to April 2018. Growth was driven by strong gains in France (+18.4 per cent) and the UK (+14.3 per cent), although demand declined in Spain (‐15.9 per cent) and Italy (‐12.2 per cent).
From January to April 2019, 111,230 heavy trucks were registered in the European Union, or 4.9 per cent more than during the same period in 2018. The UK (+18.1 per cent) and Germany (+12.2 per cent) led the growth, both posting double-digit increases, while the Italian (‐11.4 per cent) and Spanish markets (-5.6 per cent) showed a drop in heavy-truck registrations.
April 2019 results show that demand for new trucks (medium and heavy commercial vehicles over 3.5 tonnes) went up by 5.8 per cent last month. The performance of the five major EU markets differed greatly, with France (+17.7 per cent), the UK (+10.3 per cent) and Germany (+4.7 per cent) posting solid growth, but new-truck registrations showing a significant drop in Spain (-15.0 per cent) and Italy (-7.4 per cent).
So far in 2019, the EU truck market expanded by 6.1 per cent to reach 136,575 units in total. The UK (+15.7 per cent) and Germany (+13.0 per cent) saw the highest uplifts. By contrast, new truck registrations decreased in Spain and Italy (down 5.7 per cent and 10.4 per cent respectively) four months into the year.