European Commercial Vehicle Declined 3.5% in December

In December 2017, commercial vehicle registrations across the EU declined (-3.5%), due in part to one less working day than December last year. 

Total new commercial vehicles

Demand contracted across all segments and in the five big EU markets except for Germany (+0.2%). The Italian market posted the strongest decline, with registrations falling by 17.4% in December.

In 2017, demand for new commercial vehicles remained positive throughout the EU, counting 2.4 million units registered or 3.2% more than in 2016. Spain drove this growth with the highest percentage increase (+13.5%), followed by France (+6.9%) and Germany (+3.3%). By contrast, demand in Italy (-2.3%) and the United Kingdom (-4.4%) fell in 2017.

New light commercial vehicles (LCV) up to 3.5 tonnes

In December 2017, EU demand for vans was lower than a year ago (-3.0%) with 172,603 vehicles registered in total. Among the major EU markets results were diverse, with Germany (+2.2%) and the UK (+2.9%) showing growth while demand contracted in Italy (-18.0%), France (-3.9%) and Spain (-1.7%).

Overall in 2017, some 2 million new light commercial vehicles were registered across the European Union, 3.9% more than in 2016. Spain (+15.5%), France (+7.1%) and Germany (+4.9%) saw the strongest growth, but demand for vans declined in the United Kingdom (-3.6%) and Italy (-3.4%).

New heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) of 16 tonnes and over

December results show that registrations of new heavy commercial vehicles fell by 6.2% compared to the same month one year ago, with 23,137 units registered. Heavy-truck demand contracted in the UK (-24.9%), Italy (-8.7%) and Spain (-5.5%), although the French market did very well (+7.6%).

In 2017, HCV demand only saw a modest increase (+0.5%), counting 297,171 new vehicles. The Italian market showed the strongest gains (+8.4%), followed by France (+6.9%) and Germany (+1.4%). On the other hand, demand for heavy commercial vehicles declined in the United Kingdom (-7.9%) and Spain (-0.6%).

New medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV) over 3.5 tonnes

December 2017 results of the truck segment were significantly lower (-6.7%) than in December 2016; 29,051 new trucks were registered in total during the last month of 2017. Demand declined in the United Kingdom (-22.2%), Italy (-13.5%), Spain (-5.8%) and Germany (-5.3%), but it did grow in France (+7.5%).  

Overall in 2017, 367,102 new trucks were registered in the European Union – more or less the same number (-0.2%) as in 2016. France (+6.5%) and Italy (+4.5%) performed well in 2017, but truck registrations fell in the UK and Germany (-7.1% and -0.9% respectively).

New medium and heavy buses & coaches (MHBC) over 3.5 tonnes  

In December, demand for new buses and coaches was rather stable compared to December 2016 (-0.3%). Registrations fell in most of the major EU markets, especially in the United Kingdom (-24.0%) and Spain (-25.6%) – except for France (+48.1%). Noteworthy are the strong results posted by the new EU member states, their registrations went up by 47.8% in December.

In 2017, the EU bus and coach market contracted slightly (-0.5%), totaling 40,515 units. The UK and France saw demand fall by -18.8% and -4.0% respectively, but registrations of new buses and coaches increased substantially in Italy (+20.3%) and Spain (+6.9%).