EU Commercial Vehicle Registrations up 4.7% in February

In February 2019, the EU market for commercial vehicles continued to grow (+4.7%). Registrations increased from 173,492 to 181,636 units, with growth being sustained across all commercial vehicle segments. 

Total new commercial vehicles

All key EU markets except Spain (-3.8%) recorded gains last month, most notably Germany (+15.2%) and France (+7.1%). ACEA

From January to February 2019, the CV market expanded by 5.7%, counting 382,114 new registrations across the EU. Germany (+15.5%), France (+7.7%), the UK (+6.3%), Spain (+2.1%) and Italy (+1.2%) all saw demand for commercial vehicles increase so far this year.

New light commercial vehicles (LCV) up to 3.5t

In February 2019, registrations of light commercial vehicles in the EU totaled 150,040 units – up 4.4% compared to February 2018. Germany drove growth (+12.0%), followed by France (+6.4%), Italy (+6.1%) and the UK (+1.8%), while demand contracted in Spain (-3.0%).

During the first two months of 2019, the EU demand for vans increased by 5.3%. The five largest EU markets have all posted gains so far this year: Germany recorded the strongest uplift (+12.6%), followed by France (+7.7%), the UK (+5.8%), Italy (+3.3%) and Spain (+2.2%).

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

February 2019 results in the heavy truck segment showed a solid performance, with a 5.2% increase and 23,671 units registered. Demand fell in Italy (‐14.0%) and Spain (‐10.2%), while Germany (+22.4%) and France (+13.3%) recorded double-digit gains.

From January to February 2019, all EU major markets except Italy (-12.2%) posted growth, with Germany (+24.8%) and the UK (+20.9%) showing the highest increases. This brought the cumulative result up by 7.0% to reach 51,950 heavy trucks registered through the first two months this year.

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

In the second month of the year, the positive trend in the truck segment continued, with registrations up by 6.5% compared to February 2018. Three out of five of the largest EU markets contracted, while Germany (+25.9%) and France (+10.1%) provided a crucial boost to the region’s growth.

Over the first two months of 2019, 62,632 new trucks were registered in the EU (+7.4%). Similar to the heavy‐truck segment, the German (+24.6%) and UK (+16.8%) markets performed very well, although truck registrations declined in Italy (‐11.4%).

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

February 2019 registrations of buses and coaches were 4.5% higher than in the same month last year. Growth was largely driven by the Central European markets (+31.6%). France also contributed significantly (up 52.0% last month), while bus demand in the UK and Spain decreased – down 31.4% and 7.3% respectively.

Two months into the year, the EU bus and coach market grew by 4.8%, totalling 6,197 new vehicles registered across the EU. Demand increased in France (+40.4%) and Germany (+8.7%), while the UK (‐36.0%), Spain (-5.4%) and Italy (-1.1%) saw their registrations decline compared to the same period a year ago.