Rise in EU truck sales continues into February

ERJ staff report (DS)

Brussels new data from ACEA, the federation of European vehicle makers, shows the recovery in commercial vehicles sales continued into February.

The data, released on 29 March shows that new commercial vehicle registrations amounted to 141,914 units in the EU, or 16.8 percent more than in the same month last year. All segments posted growth, except buses and coaches. From January to February, new registrations increased by 18.5 percent, compared with the same period a year ago, totaling 290,695 units. Growth prevailed across categories.

The segment of heavy trucks posted the strongest growth in February (+74.4 percent) with 16,397 new registrations. Among the major markets, the British expanded the most (+152.2 percent), followed by the German (+78.2 percent), the French (+67.7 percent) and the Spanish (+53.8 percent). From January to February, the EU recorded 34,574 new heavy trucks, or 70.3 percent more than in the first two months of 2010. Germany (+72.1 percent) registered the most trucks, followed by France (+66.5 percent), the UK (+147.8 percent), the Netherlands (+38.5 percent) and Spain (+51.8 percent).

February results in the truck segment showed a 53.9 percent increase in the EU, which totaled 21,815 units. All significant markets posted growths ranging from 40.8 percent in Spain to 50.9 percent in the UK, 57.1 percent in France and 64.1 percent in Germany. From January to February, new truck registrations were up 53.6 percent. Growth prevailed in all major markets as the Netherlands expanded by 33.9 percent, Spain by 42.9 percent, the UK by 55.1 percent, France by 56.0 percent and Germany by 61.5 percent.

New Light Commercial Vehicles up to 3.5t - "vans"

Demand for new vans was up 12.3 percent in February, with 118,040 vehicles registered. France recorded the most vans and expanded its market by 13.6 percent, followed by Germany (+32.0 percent) and the UK (+23.9 percent). With 9,217 units, Spain saw its market contract by 6.7 percent. Two months into the year, a total of 240,057 new vans was registered in the EU, or 13.8 percent more than in the same period last year. France (+11.1 percent), Germany (+33.2 percent) and the UK (+37.9 percent) performed better, while Spain faced a downturn (-7.0 percent).

The category of buses and coaches was the only one to decline in February. Registrations were down 4.7 percent compared to the same month a year ago. Out of the largest markets, only Spain grew (+51.5 percent). The UK and Germany performed similarly, contracting by 16.6 percent and 16.9 percent respectively. France saw its demand for new buses and coaches fall by 40.5 percent. Two months into the year, the EU recorded 7.0 percent more vehicles than in January-February 2010. While demand was down in the UK (-14.0 percent) and France (-16.7 percent), it increased in Germany (+4.7 percent) and Spain (+78.2 percent).

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Press release from ACEA