ACEA

COMMERCIAL VEHICLES: Registrations down 33.9% over eleven months

Brussels, 18/12/2009 - In November, new commercial vehicle registrations in Europe* continued to decline with a drop of 15.9% compared to levels in November 2008, when the down trend started to hit hard across all segments. New registrations last month amounted to 143,293 units. Cumulative figures from January to November show a 33.9% decrease with a total of 1,560,530 new registrations. In 2009, the month of November counted on average one more working day across the EU. 

New Light Commercial Vehicles up to 3.5t – “vans”

The segment of vans was down 10.5% in November, totaling 123,376 new vehicles. In Western Europe, the decrease was 6.0%. Among the major markets, the Spanish was the only one to post growth (+12.4%), while the British remained stable (-0.8%), the French and Italian were down 1.5% and 2.4% respectively and the German contracted more significantly (-13.9%). In the new EU Member States, new van registrations dropped by 42.5%. The downturn ranged from 18.3% in Slovakia to 70.9% in Latvia. Poland remained the largest market although contracting by 29.3%. From January to November, 1,295,169 new vans were registered in Europe*, which is 32.0% less than over the same period last year. The downturn hit all countries, resulting in an overall decline of 29.7% in Western Europe and 50.8% in the new EU Member States. France (-21.3%) registered the most vehicles, followed by the UK (-37.1%), Italy (-23.4%), Germany (-24.7%) and Spain (-38.8%). New registrations fell by 28.0% in Poland and 67.0% in the Czech Republic.

New Heavy Commercial Vehicles over 16t (excluding Buses & Coaches) – “heavy trucks”

New heavy truck registrations in Europe* amounted to 10,891 units** in November, which is 45.9%** less than in November last year. The decline, affecting all countries, was 46.0%** in Western Europe and 45.2% in the new EU Member States. Spain fell by 32.2%, Germany by 33.2%, France by 40.8%, Italy by 44.3% and the UK by 66.4%**. Eleven months into the year, Europe* recorded a 48.4%** decrease. Results in the largest markets ranged from -40.6% in France, -41.3% in Germany, -43.5%** in the UK, -50.3% in Italy and -68.3% in Spain. In the new EU Member States, Poland, the most important market, shrunk by 64.0%. 

New Commercial Vehicles over 3.5t (excluding Buses & Coaches) – “trucks”

In November, registrations of new trucks decreased by 41.8% in Europe*. Among the largest markets, the UK recorded the steepest decline (-54.7%), followed by Italy (-40.2%), France (-37.2%), Germany (-33.6%) and Spain (-30.9%). In the new EU Member States, the Polish market performed best, contracting by 18%. From January to November, a 44.4% downturn was observed. France (-37.3%), Germany (-37.4%) and the UK (-38.9%) performed similarly, while Italy (-44.4%) and Spain (-63.7%) registered a more dramatic drop. In the new EU Member States, Poland (-57.7%) and the Czech Republic (-55.8%) remained the largest markets. 

New Buses & Coaches over 3.5t

New registrations of buses and coaches were down 17.1% in November and 18.4% from January to November. Monthly figures show an expansion of the French (+43.8%) and German (5.8%) markets while downturn prevailed in the Netherlands (-11.0%), the UK (-18.6%), Italy (-34.5%) and Spain (-42.6%). Cumulative results show growth in France (+9.4%) whereas markets in the Netherlands (-1.1%), Germany (-7.9%), the UK (-14.8%), Spain (-24.3%) and Italy (-27.2%) all contracted.       

* EU27+EFTA, data for Cyprus and Malta are unavailable
** Figures updated on December 21, 2009

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