The June quarter posted a steady performance with new registrations for the quarter mirroring those for the previous quarter according to ARTSA-i Data analytics Executive Director, Rob Perkins.
“This is a little unusual in that history tells us that new registrations rise throughout the quarters of the calendar year and generally finish on a high with the December quarter.
“To have a flat September (Q3) quarter is unusual but perhaps reflective of the supply chain struggles with meeting demand.
“There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that demand is very strong, but this demand is not translating into record sales due to a shortage of both equipment and skilled labour.”
Prime movers: The positive trend is reported to continue even with a slowing in Q3 registrations by 2.8 per cent compared to the previous quarter although annual growth is still recording 8.4 per cent to end September 2022. The trend line shows growth of some 20 per cent compared with data from four years ago.
Like prime movers, trailers have had a small negative quarter compared to Q2 with -0.8 per cent however the annual growth is 4.1 per cent to ends September 2022. Trailer growth over the last four years has been a cumulative 35 per cent which is almost double that for prime mover growth.
Unlike prime movers and trailers, rigids did increase new registrations over the previous quarter with a modest 2.5 per cent growth. Annually they are growing at 1.8 per cent which is below both prime mover and trailer growth. In the last four years the trend line in growth has been around 5.0 per cent in total which is well down compared to prime movers and trailers which have had 20 per cent and 35 per cent growth respectively.
The heavy sector of rigids often tows dog trailers. These have displayed a downward trend in new registrations over the last four years with flat new registrations particularly over the last three years.
Meanwhile, commercial vehicle registrations in the European Union (EU) fell again in July and August 2022 – down 17.4 per cent and 8.0 per cent respectively – marking 14 consecutive months of decline.
The upward momentum in the heavy truck segment continued, with solid gains recorded in July (+2.8 per cent) and especially in August (+24.4 per cent). July’s result was largely driven by Central European countries (+15 per cent). August was an even more positive month, with nearly all EU markets posting strong gains.
Over the first eight months of the year, the EU heavy commercial vehicle market remained in positive territory, thanks to the results of the last four months. Registrations increased by 2.7 per cent to 165,908 units year-on-year. The region’s key markets posted mixed results. Germany recorded a slight decline (-1.8 per cent), while Spain and France posted growth during this eight-month period (+9.9 per cent and +1.9 per cent respectively).
