Truck sales continue recovery in Europe

ERJ staff report (DS)

Brussels - Registrations of new commercial vehicle registrations increased by 9.5 percent across the EU in April, according to new data from ACEA, the European federation of vehicle makers.

Among the major markets, only France (-3.0 percent) and Spain (-14.3 percent) declined while Germany (+12.2 percent) and the UK expanded (+23.6 percent). From January to April, a total of 657,707 new vehicles were registered, or 13.5 percent more than over the same period a year ago. France (+7.7 percent) recorded the most vehicles (161,941 units), followed by the UK (104,190) and Germany (103,020) which grew by 28.6 percent and 25.5 percent respectively.

Heavy truck (over 16t) sales continued to accelerate, with sales reaching 20,581 new heavy trucks in April. All major markets posted strong growths, leading to an overall 52.4 percent upturn in the region. The British market expanded by 72.7 percent, followed by the Netherlands (+62.1 percent), France (+47.8 percent), Spain (+32.5 percent) and Germany (+31.5 percent).

From January to April, 78,624 new trucks were registered in the EU, or 61.9 percent more than in the same period last year. Germany (+50.9 percent) was the biggest market, recording 19,860 units, while France (+62.8 percent) ranked second with 13,369 new vehicles. The Netherlands (+40.6 percent) and Spain (+40.7 percent) performed similarly. The UK saw its demand increase by 79.9 percent.

The same picture emerged in mid-sized trucks (3.5t - 16t) with 27,338 new vehicles regitered in the EU in April, posting a 42.4 percent increase compared to the same month a year earlier. Growth prevailed across countries, ranging from +56.7 percent in the Netherlands to +48.8 percent in the UK, +40.1 percent in France, +31.3 percent in Germany and +28.9 percent in Spain.

Over the first four months, the most significant markets performed similarly as demand for new trucks grew by 36.2 percent in the Netherlands, 40.8 percent in Spain, 43.3 percent in the UK, 45.4 percent in Germany and 52.2 percent in France. Overall, new truck registrations increased by 48.7 percent, totaling 103,935 units.

Sales of vans (up to 3.5t) also increased, but much more slowly. In April, demand for new vans were up 4.6 percent** in the EU*, amounting to 127,814 units. Of the most significant markets, France (-6.6 percent) and Spain (-19.0 percent) faced a downturn, while new registrations increased in Germany (+5.1 percent) and the UK (+21.4 percent).

Four months into the year, new van registrations totaled 543,030 units, or 8.9 percent more than in the first four months of 2010. France was the largest market and expanded by 4.5 percent. Germany (+18.9 percent) and the UK (+29.0 percent) both posted a double-digit growth, while Spain saw its market contract by 11.3 percent.

Once again, sales of buses and coaches declined. Registrations slipped by 0.3 percent in April as the Spanish (+56.7 percent) and German (+14.4 percent) markets expanded while new registrations were down in France (-18.3 percent) and the UK (-10.7 percent).

From January to April, the EU* recorded 10,742 new buses and coaches, or 1.3 percent less than in the same period in 2010. The UK and France remained the largest markets despite a downturn of 28.2 percent and 13.6 percent respectively. The German market was stable (+0.5 percent), while the Spanish expanded by 66.4 percent.

Due to the unavailability of data from Italy since January 2011, figures reported for that country are an extrapolation made by data provider AAA. They are not actual market figures, hence the possibility of an error margin with regard to the EU totals. Italy usually accounts for 10 to 15 percent of the EU Commercial Vehicle market.

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Press release from ACEA