ACEA

COMMERCIAL VEHICLES: registrations up 7.7% in October

Brussels, 25/11/2011 - In October, new commercial vehicle registrations were up 7.7%** in the EU*, amounting to 162,901 units**, reflecting similar results in France (+7.8%) and Germany (+7.2%), the largest EU markets. The UK also contributed positively (+11.1%). From January to October, Spain was the only major market to contract (-4.9%). Germany (+19.5%), the UK (+17.8%) and France (5.5%) all posted growth, leading to an overall 10.8% increase.

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

In October, demand for vans grew by 5.8%**, with 131,482 new registrations**. France (+4.7%), the UK (+6.7%) and Germany (+12.5%) saw their markets expand. Spain was the only major one to decline (- 5.0%). Ten months into the year, the number of new van registrations in the EU* amounted to 1,308,741 units**, or 7.5% more than in the same period last year**. France recorded 2.1% more vehicles and remained the largest market, followed by the UK (+17.3%) and Germany (+18.3%) which performed similarly. Spain faced an 8.7% downturn.

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

The segment of heavy trucks recorded an increase of 18.2%** in the EU* over the month of October, as a total of 21,552 new vehicles** was registered across the region where growth prevailed. Germany was the only market to shrink (-6.4%), while all other important markets posted double-digit growths ranging from 22.0% in Spain to 25.2% in France and 34.4% in the UK. Over ten months, the EU* registered 197,078 new heavy trucks, or 40.8% more than in the same period a year ago**. With the only exception of Greece (-65.8%), all markets expanded. The major ones saw their new registrations rise by 25.9% (Spain), 27.1% (Germany), 45.9% (the UK) and 49.4% (France).

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