EU Commercial Vehicle Registrations up 2.7% in November

In November 2018, EU demand for commercial vehicles continued to grow (+2.7%), although at a slower pace than in October. 

Total new commercial vehicles

This growth was mostly supported by the van segment, while registrations of new trucks and buses remained steady. The UK saw the biggest uplift (+6.8%) last month, followed by Germany (+6.6%) and France (+3.0%). By contrast, demand contracted in Spain and Italy (down 5.9% and 7.2% respectively) in November.

During the first 11 months of 2018, almost 2.3 million new commercial vehicles were registered in the European Union, up 3.8% compared to 2017. Registrations contracted in Italy (-2.8%) and the United Kingdom (-1.3%), but the Spanish (+6.5%), German (5.5%) and French (+5.2%) markets all performed well so far this year.

New light commercial vehicles (LCV) up to 3.5t

In November 2018, registrations of light commercial vehicles in the EU increased by 3.2% compared to 1 year ago. Looking at the five major markets, both Spain (-3.3%) and Italy (-7.7%) saw demand fall. However, registrations of new vans did increase in the UK (+9.6%), Germany (+6.4%) and France (+3.1%) last month.

From January to November 2018, EU van registrations were 3.7% higher than in the same period last year, totalling close to 1.9 million units sold. Spain (+7.6%), Germany (+6.2%) and France (+4.8%) posted positive results, but demand for light commercial vehicles declined in both the UK (-0.7%) and Italy (-5.0%).

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

November 2018 results show a slight slowdown (-0.5%) in registrations of new heavy trucks across the EU last month. Demand fell significantly in Spain (-22.7%) and Italy (-13.7%) but was partially sustained by the German and French markets (up 8.9% and 6.8% respectively).

Eleven months into the year, EU demand for heavy trucks maintained momentum (+4.7%), with 290,988 new vehicles registered so far in 2018. The United Kingdom (-6.2%) and Spain (-2.5%) saw registrations decline over this period, while France (+9.9%), Italy (+6.1%) and Germany (+4.3%) contributed positively to EU growth.

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

In November 2018, new truck registrations remained stable (+0.2%) compared to November 2017. The EU’s five biggest markets showed different trends: while the Spanish (-20.1%), Italian (-9.5%) and UK (-3.5%) markets contracted strongly, demand for trucks increased in Germany (+8.2%) and France (+5.5%).

From January to November 2018, 357,270 new trucks were registered across the European Union – or 4.7% more than in the same period last year. France (+8.8%), Italy (+8.1%) and Germany (+3.9%) posted solid growth, but the United Kingdom (-4.1%) and Spain (-0.7%) performed worse than in 2017.

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

November 2018 results for the bus and coach segment show a slight increase (+0.5%), which contrasts heavily with the exceptional growth observed in October. The excellent performance of the Central European markets (+71.1%) provided crucial support to the overall results of the region. By contrast, with the exception of Italy (+54.7%) all major EU markets posted strong declines in November.

Over the first 11 months of the year, EU demand for new buses and coaches grew by 2.8% compared to one year ago. Growth was largely driven by the Italian market (+39.9%), given that registrations fell in the United Kingdom (-10.6%), Spain (-4.7%) and Germany (-0.9%).