EU truck registrations continue to grow

ERJ staff report (DS)

Brussels - New data from ACEA, the European vehicle makers' federation shows that demand for new commercial vehicles in the EU* increased by 25.1 percent** in May, compared to the same month last year, which counted on average 1.7 more working days. Spain was the only major market to record a downturn (-13.3 percent), while the UK (+17.2 percent), France (+32.2 percent) and Germany (+38.4 percent) all expanded.

From January to May, the EU* recorded a total of 835,539 new vehicles**, or 15.8 percent more** than over the same period a year ago. With the exception of Spain (-7.4 percent), all significant markets posted growth, from +12.4 percent in France to 26.3 percent in the UK and 28.2 percent in Germany.

May results in the segment of heavy trucks showed a strong increase in new registrations (+63.1 percent**), which totaled 21,463 units**. The UK (+43.1 percent), Spain (+45.6 percent) and Germany (+48.7 percent) performed similarly, while France saw its market increase by a considerable 87.4 percent.

From January to May, 100,089 new heavy trucks** were registered in the region (+62.2 percent**). Growth prevailed across countries, except in Greece (-49.8 percent), ranging from 41.7 percent in Spain to 42.8 percent in the Netherlands, 50.4 percent in Germany, 67.7 percent in France and 71.6 percent in the UK.

In May, new van registrations amounted to 146,350 units, or 21.5 percent** more than in May 2010. While the Spanish market declined by 18.3 percent, the British (+17.3 percent), French (+28.4 percent) and German (+36.0 percent) were all up.

Five months into the year, a total of 689,388 new vans was registered, or 11.3 percent more than in the first five months of last year. Spain saw the number of its new registrations decline (-12.8 percent), while France (+9.0 percent), Germany (+22.5 percent) and the UK (+26.7 percent) performed better than in the same period a year ago.

The segment of trucks recorded 28,584 new registrations** in May in the EU*, or 50.8 percent more than in the same month last year. Strong growths were observed across markets, reaching 31.5 percent in the UK, 40.5 percent in Spain, 44.3 percent in Germany and 73.5 percent in France.

Over the first five months, 132,525 new trucks were registered, or 49.2 percent more than in the same period in 2010. Germany (+45.1 percent) was the largest market, registering 40,470 new units, followed by France (+56.5 percent; 21,518 units), the UK (+40.8 percent; 14,807 units), Spain (+40.7 percent; 6,744 units) and the Netherlands (+38.0 percent; 5,974 units).

In May, demand for new buses and coaches was up 5.3 percent** in the EU*, sustained by the Spanish (+20.5 percent), German (+35.5 percent) and French (+47.6 percent) markets in particular. The UK was the only major market to decline (-40.0 percent).

From January to May, new buses and coaches amounted to 13,626 units in a stable EU* market (+0.0 percent**). Spain posted a double-digit increase (+55.4 percent), while Germany grew by 6.7 percent, France slipped by 2.7 percent and the UK contracted by 30.4 percent.

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Press release from ACEA