European commercial vehicle registration down 35.6% in Jan

ERJ staff report (RD)

Brussels - European registrations of new commercial vehicles fell by 35.6 percent in January 2009, according to figures released by the ACEA - European Automobile Manufacturers' Association.

The drop in demand was consistent across all four categories of commercial vehicle - dropping by -36.6 percent for light commercial vehicles (vans), -34.7 percent for heavy trucks, -33 percent for trucks, and -15.8 percent for buses and coaches. The ACEA said in total new commercial vehicle registrations totaled at 145 187 units.

The fall in demand for vans stretched across all European markets, down by -37.1 percent in Western Europe, but falling most sharply in Iceland (-83.3 percent), Ireland (-80.6 percent) and Denmark (-60.6 percent). The major European markets dropped by -23.6 percent, -31.1 percent, -39.6 percent, -47.9 percent, and -50.7 percent for France, Germany, Italy, UK, and Spain respectively.

Registrations of heavy trucks dropped -31.9 percent in western Europe and more than halved in the new EU member States market with a drop of -57.6 percent. Spain suffered the largest decrease with a -76.3 percent drop in demand and only three countries posted growth: Finland (+3 percent), Sweden (+5.2 percent) and Switzerland (+41.5 percent).

Truck registrations reflected similar trends to heavy truck demand with only Sweden and Switzerland posting growth and Spain experiencing large declines in demand.

For buses and coaches, the UK, representing the biggest market, posted growth of +11.9 percent followed by France, despite a 23.5 percent decline. The other major European markets, Germany, Italy, and Spain contracted by 18.8 percent, 17.9 percent, and 11.7 percent respectively.

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Press release from ACEA