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 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 4 months of 2018, EU demand for new commercial vehicles increased by 4.3%, thanks to last month’s positive sales momentum. New registrations totaled 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 4 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 4 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%).
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