Brussels, 22 March 2018 – In February 2018, demand for new commercial vehicles increased by 5.0% in the European Union. This growth was sustained by all commercial vehicle segments, with registrations totalling 173,385 units.
Total new commercial vehicles
In February 2018, demand for new commercial vehicles increased by 5.0% in the European Union. This growth was sustained by all commercial vehicle segments, with registrations totalling 173,385 units. The five largest EU markets all posted gains in February: Spain (+17.9%) showed the strongest increase, followed by Italy (+5.7%), France (+4.2%), Germany (+3.6%) and the UK (+0.9%).
Two months into the year, the EU market expanded by 6.5% to reach 361,447 new registrations. Both Spain (+16.6%) and Italy (+10.3%) posted double‐digit growth figures, while Germany (+6.4%) and France (+5.1%) followed with more modest rates. The United Kingdom, on the other hand, saw demand for commercial vehicles decline (-2.9%) so far in 2018.
New light commercial vehicles (LCV) up to 3.5 tonnes
February registrations of new vans in the EU totalled 143,930 units, or 5.8% more than last year. All major markets contributed to this upturn. Spain (+18.1%) drove growth, followed by Germany (+8.8%), the UK (+6.4%), Italy (+6.0%) and France (+3.5%).
From January to February 2018, 297,602 new light commercial vehicles were registered in the European Union, up 6.8% compared to the same period in 2017. Spain (+17.1%), Italy (+10.0%), Germany (+9.0%) and France (+4.5%) all saw demand for vans increase, while LCV registrations remained stable in the United Kingdom.
New heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) of 16 tonnes and over
In February 2018, new heavy commercial vehicle registrations increased by 2.5% compared to the same month one year ago, totalling 22,312 units. Heavy-truck demand contracted in the United Kingdom (-13.4%) and Germany (-11.8%), but sales were strong in Italy (+14.7%), France (+12.5%) and Spain (+10.8%).
During the first two months of the year, the EU market grew by 6.4% to reach 48,309 new heavy-truck registrations. Italy (+20.1%), France (+14.0%) and Spain (+9.2%) saw robust growth in demand, but registrations declined in the UK (‐12.8%) and Germany (‐3.4%).
New medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV) over 3.5 tonnes
February registration figures for new trucks show three out of five of the largest EU markets posting growth, in line with the heavy-truck segment. Overall, 26,858 new trucks were registered in the European Union, or 1.0% more than in February 2017.
From January to February 2018, 57,936 new trucks were registered in the EU (+5.4%). The Italian (+12.7%), French (+12.3%) and Spanish (+9.0%) markets performed very well, although truck registrations declined in the UK (-16.7%) and Germany (‐0.4%).
New medium and heavy buses & coaches (MHBC) over 3.5 tonnes
In February, EU demand for buses and coaches declined in all major markets except Spain. Demand fell in France (‐18.4%), Italy (-14.5%), Germany (-13.6%) and the United Kingdom (-8.0%), but Spain (+62.1%) posted very strong figures. In total, new bus and coach registrations grew by 1.9% across the region, also driven by the new EU member states (+30.4%).
Over the first two months of 2018, the EU bus and coach market grew by 5.2%, counting 5,909 new vehicles registered. Demand only increased in Spain (+45.9%) and Italy (+6.4%), while registrations declined in France (-16.5%), the UK (-6.5%) and Germany (-1.7%).