ACEA

COMMERCIAL VEHICLES: registrations up 9.5% in April

Brussels, 27/05/2011 - New commercial vehicle registrations increased by 9.5%** across the EU* in April, compared to the same month last year, which counted on average one more working day. Among the major markets, only France (-3.0%) and Spain (-14.3%) declined while Germany (+12.2%) and the UK expanded (+23.6%). From January to April, a total of 657,707 new vehicles** were registered, or 13.5% more** than over the same period a year ago. France (+7.7%) recorded the most vehicles (161,941 units), followed by the UK (104,190) and Germany (103,020) which grew by 28.6% and 25.5% respectively.

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

In April, demand for new vans were up 4.6%** in the EU*, amounting to 127,814 units. Of the most significant markets, France (-6.6%) and Spain (-19.0%) faced a downturn, while new registrations increased in Germany (+5.1%) and the UK (+21.4%). Four months into the year, new van registrations totaled 543,030 units, or 8.9% more than in the first four months of 2010. France was the largest market and expanded by 4.5%. Germany (+18.9%) and the UK (+29.0%) both posted a double-digit growth, while Spain saw its market contract by 11.3%.

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

The EU* recorded 20,581 new heavy trucks** in April. All major markets posted strong growths, leading to an overall 52.4% upturn in the region. The British market expanded by 72.7%, followed by the Netherlands (+62.1%), France (+47.8%), Spain (+32.5%) and Germany (+31.5%). From January to April, 78,624 new trucks were registered** in the EU*, or 61.9% more than in the same period last year. Germany (+50.9%) was the biggest market, recording 19,860 units, while France (+62.8%) ranked second with 13,369 new vehicles. The Netherlands (+40.6%) and Spain (+40.7%) performed similarly. The UK saw its demand increase by 79.9%.

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

The segment of trucks totaled 27,338 new vehicles** in the EU* in April, posting a 42.4% increase compared to the same month a year earlier. Growth prevailed across countries, ranging from +56.7% in the Netherlands to +48.8% in the UK, +40.1% in France, +31.3% in Germany and +28.9% in Spain. Greece was the only country to record a downturn (-45.5%). Over the first four months, the most significant markets performed similarly as demand for new trucks grew by 36.2% in the Netherlands, 40.8% in Spain, 43.3% in the UK, 45.4% in Germany and 52.2% in France. Overall, new truck registrations increased by 48.7%, totaling 103,935 units.

New Buses & Coaches over 3.5t

The category of buses and coaches slipped by 0.3% in April ** as the Spanish (+56.7%) and German (+14.4%) markets expanded while new registrations were down in France (-18.3%) and the UK (-10.7%). From January to April, the EU* recorded 10,742 new buses and coaches, or 1.3% less than in the same period in 2010. The UK and France remained the largest markets despite a downturn of 28.2% and 13.6% respectively. The German market was stable (+0.5%), while the Spanish expanded by 66.4%.

* Data for Cyprus and Malta are unavailable

** Due to the unavailability of data from Italy since January 2011, figures reported for that country are an extrapolation made by data provider AAA. They are not actual market figures, hence the possibility of an error margin with regard to the EU totals. Italy usually accounts for 10 to 15% of the EU Commercial Vehicle market.

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