European Commercial Vehicle Registrations Decline 14.7% in November 2021

In November 2021, new commercial vehicle registrations across the EU retreated (-14.7%) for the fifth consecutive month.

Total new commercial vehicles

The van segment’s double-digit drop weighed heavily on the overall result, as vans accounted for over 80% of total commercial vehicle sales in the European Union. The region’s four major markets posted strong declines last month, with the sharpest drop seen in Spain (-30.4%).

During the first 11 months of 2021, European Union commercial vehicle registrations remained up by 11.5%, still benefiting from 2020’s low base for comparison. The largest markets performed well so far in 2021, especially Italy (+17.6%) and France (+9.4%), although the percentage increases in Germany (+1.3%) and Spain (+0.6%) fell significantly compared to earlier months.

New light commercial vehicles (LCV) up to 3.5t

Last month, the market for new vans in the European Union saw another double-digit decline (-16.6%), as the ongoing shortage of semiconductors continued to hamper vehicle output. The region’s performance was not helped by the weak results of the major EU markets: Spain (-33.0%), Germany (-24.7%), Italy (-16.2%) and France (-12.1%).

From January to November, EU light commercial vehicle registrations were still up by 10.8% at 1.4 million units, despite the weak performance of recent months. Looking at the largest markets for new vans, Italy (+17.1%) and France (+9.7%) managed to remain in positive territory, while cumulative volumes in Germany (+0.4%) and Spain (-0.4%) were more or less stable compared to 2020.

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

In November, heavy truck sales in the European Union declined less steeply (-3.5%) than those of vans. The Central European countries continued to provide positive support (+13.4%) to the region’s performance, but this was not enough to offset the double-digit drops posted by the four major markets in Western Europe.

So far in 2021, 219,595 new heavy trucks were registered across the European Union, up 21.0% compared to the same period one year ago. With the exception of Greece (-3.6%) all EU markets managed to post growth over this period, including Italy (+25.5%), Spain (+13.1%), Germany (+9.8%) and France (+5.9%).

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

Last month, EU demand for trucks contracted by 6.0%, counting 23,678 units sold. Similar to the heavy-truck segment, Western Europe’s performance was worse than in November 2020: Spain (-17.5%), Germany (-14.1%), France (-13.8%) and Italy (-8.5%). By contrast, most markets in Central Europe recorded gains last month.

Eleven months into 2021, new truck sales in the European Union increased by 16.6% year-to-date, with 264,031 units registered in total. The low base for comparison in earlier months of the year helped the region’s four largest markets to remain in positive territory so far: Italy (+22.6%), Spain (+8.6%), France (+6.1%) and Germany (+4.8%).

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

In November 2021,buses were the only segment showing a slight increase (+1.6%) in new registrations. With the exception of France (-6.5%), all key EU markets made a positive contribution to last month’s growth: Italy (+14.4%), Spain (+7.8%) and Germany (+5.1%).

From January to November, new bus and coach registrations across the EU grew by +2.3% to reach 26,101 units. The major markets posted a mixed bag of results during these first 11 months. France, which led the way in terms of volume, saw the highest percentage increase (+10.6%), followed by Italy (+8.9%). On the other hand, Spanish and German registrations slipped by 6.3% and 4.0% respectively so far this year.