European CV sales still fragile

ERJ staff report (DS)

Brussels -- Four months into the year, total European commercial vehicle sales were up by 1.2 percent, but that is based on growing sales in the van sector. Medium- and Heavy truck sales are still badly down on last year, according to new data from ACEA, the European federation of vehicle makers.

Four months into the year, the EU registered 579,192 new commercial vehicles, or 1.2 percent more than over the same period a year ago, but 36.7 percent less than in 2008.

In the heavy truck segment (over 16 tonnes), registrations in the first four months of 2010 amountd to 48,096 new vehicles, representing a decline of 25.7 percent over the same period last year. With the exception of Poland (+1.5 percent) and Spain (+1.9 percent), most of the larger markets recorded negative results, ranging from -42.9 percent in the Netherlands to -18.5 percent in Germany.

In April, new heavy truck registrations declined by 11.0 percent in the EU with 13,421 new vehicles registered. Among the largest markets, only Spain posted growth (+12.1 percent). The Netherlands (-29.4 percent), Italy (-16.0 percent), France (-10.5 percent), Germany (-6.1 percent), the UK (-6.1 percent) and Poland (-5.5 percent) all saw their markets contract.

In the medium truck segment, Poland remained stable (+0.3 percent) from January to April, while all the other important markets were down, from -2.4 percent in Spain to -41.1 percent in the Netherlands. In the month of April registrations of new trucks amounted to 19,501 units, down by 11.3 percent on the same month in 2009.

Iin the van sector (below 3.5 tonnes), registrations were up by 6.2 percent from January to April. ance (+13.1 percent) remained the biggest market, followed by Italy (+19.8 percent), the UK (+11.7 percent), Germany (+9.9 percent) and Spain (+20.7 percent). 496,618 new vans were registered over the period.

The van segment was the main contributor to the positive results in April, recording 124,704 new registrations, or 13.7 percent more than a year ago. Major markets all posted growth, from +34.5 percent in Spain and +31.2 percent in France, making it the largest market in April, to 19.2 percent in Germany, 6.4 percent in the UK and 2.6 percent in Italy.

In the bus and coach segment 10,734 new vehicles were registered in the first four months, or 13.7 percent less than over the same period last year. In April new bus and coach registrations fell by 11.6 percent to 2,769 units.

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Press release from ACEA