Commercial vehicle manufacturers face long road to recovery

ERJ staff report (RD)

Brussels - The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) has said that a recovery for commercial vehicle manufacturers is still far away.

The economic crisis has had a far-reaching effect on the European commercial vehicle industry, the association said, commenting that, “the drop in economic activity and transport has pushed truck production down to half of pre-crisis levels and there are no real signs of recovery in sight,” the ACEA said in a 24 Sep statement.

ACEA registration data has revealed a 37 percent drop in new vehicle sales in Europe until August 2009, compared to January-August last year. Meanwhile order intake for heavy trucks stalled at around 25 000 in the first half of 2009, or 85 percent less than in the same period of 2008, the ACEA said. This year's commercial vehicle production is expected to halve at least.

“Whereas the bottom of the slope appears to have been reached, there are no signs of a rapid improvement,” the association said, adding that manufacturers expect a flat market until late into 2010.

“The commercial vehicle industry is facing the prospect of having to make fundamental changes to its operations”, said Ivan Hodac, secretary general of ACEA.

“The commercial vehicle manufacturers make the products that their customers need and society wants. Ways must be found to bridge the current exceptional crisis. Europe cannot afford to stand aside and let this sector be at risk,” said Hodac.

The ACEA commercial vehicle members are Daimler AG, DAF Trucks, Iveco SpA, MAN AG, Scania AB, Volkswagen AG and AB Volvo. They produce trucks and engines in over ten EU countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic.

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Press release from ACEA