Brussels, 25 May 2018 – In April 2018, registrations of new commercial vehicles in the European Union posted robust growth (+9.6%) after a decline in March, counting nearly 200,000 units.
Total new commercial vehicles
In April 2018, registrations of new commercial vehicles in the European Union posted robust growth (+9.6%) after a decline in March, counting nearly 200,000 units. In the United Kingdom demand remained more or less stable, but it increased in the other key European markets. Spain (+22.0%) and Germany (+14.5%) posted the highest percentage growth, with the French and Italian markets recording more modest increases (+6.9% and +1.3% respectively).
During the first four months of 2018, EU demand for new commercial vehicles increased by 4.3%, thanks to last month’s positive sales momentum. New registrations totalled 822,481 units so far this year. Spain (+12.3%) recorded double-digit growth figures, followed by France (+6.4%), Italy (+3.9%) and Germany (+3.8%). UK commercial vehicle demand, however, went down by 3.4% compared to the same period in 2017.
New light commercial vehicles (LCV) up to 3.5 tonnes
In April 2018, EU demand for light commercial vehicles went up by 9.8%; 162,527 vans were registered in total. New LCV registrations grew strongly in all key EU markets except for Italy (-4.4%). Spain (+22.2%), Germany (+15.4%), France (+6.9%) and the United Kingdom (+3.9%) all saw demand for vans increase last month.
So far in 2018, 680,930 new light commercial vehicles were registered across the European Union, up 4.3% compared to the same period one year ago. Growth was posted in Spain (+12.4%), France (+6.2%), Germany (+5.4%) and Italy (+2.0%). By contrast, demand for vans decreased by 2.3% in the United Kingdom during the first four months of the year.
New heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) of 16 tonnes and over
April results were 11.7% higher in 2018 than last year, counting 27,189 new heavy commercial vehicles. Heavy-truck sales did very well in Italy (+50.0%), Spain (+32.4%), Germany (+18.3%) and France (+9.0%), but UK demand declined by 19.0% last month.
Four months into the year the EU market grew by 5.8%, 104,489 new heavy trucks were registered in total. The Italian (+19.1%), French (+11.3%) and Spanish (+10.4%) markets posted the strongest gains over the period. On the other hand, demand fell in the United Kingdom (-8.2%) and remained stable in Germany (-0.4%).
New medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV) over 3.5 tonnes
In April 2018, the truck segment performed positively (+10.6%). Overall, 33,276 new trucks were registered in the European Union last month. Demand only declined in the UK (-13.5%), while growing strongly in the other major EU markets – especially in Italy (+41.7%) and Spain (+32.7%).
From January to April 2018, EU new truck demand increased by 4.8%, counting 128,310 units. Italy (+15.3%), Spain (+11.2%) and France (+9.1%) all performed very well, although registrations did fall in the United Kingdom (-8.4%) during the first four months of the year.
New medium and heavy buses & coaches (MHBC) over 3.5 tonnes
April 2018 results show that EU demand for new buses and coaches contracted by 4.3% to 3,449 units last month. Results were diverse among the five big EU markets. Registrations declined significantly in Spain (-30.7%) and the UK (‐29.0%), while Italy (+12.6%) and Germany (+12.5%) posted positive results.
During the first four months of 2018, bus and coach registrations decreased by 2.1%. In total, 13,241 new vehicles were registered across the EU. Demand increased only in Spain (+11.6%) and Italy (+13.0%); registrations dropped in the United Kingdom (-18.8%), France (-9.6%) and Germany (-0.9%).