In November, new registrations of commercial vehicles were up 8.9%, growing for the third consecutive month and totaling 152,439 units. All segments benefitted from the upturn. France was the only market to contract (-2.2%), while Italy (+1.1%), Germany (+10.0%), the UK (+22.8%) and Spain (+26.0%) performed better than in the same month last year. From January to November, the EU recorded 1,541,856 new commercial vehicles, or 1.7% less than in the first eleven months of 2012. Results varied across markets as the Spanish (+6.3%) and the UK (+10.7%) expanded, while the German (-4.3%), French (-5.5%) and Italian (-14.2%) faced a downturn.
New Light Commercial Vehicles up to 3.5t – “vans”
In November, demand for new vans was up 5.8%, amounting to 120,944 units. Looking at the major markets, the Italian remained stable (-0.3%), while the French shrank by 4.2%, and the UK (+19.4%) and Spanish (+25.0%) posted a double-digit growth. Eleven months into the year, new van registrations increased in both Spain (+8.3%) and the UK (+11.7%). Germany (-3.9%), France (-5.7%) and Italy (-14.5%) fared less well, leading to an overall 1.7% decline of the EU market*. In total, 1,252,187 new vans were registered in the period.
New Heavy Commercial Vehicles over 16t (excluding Buses & Coaches) – “heavy trucks”
The segment of heavy trucks increased the most in November, growing by 30.8% with a total of 22,483 new registrations. All significant markets expanded, from France (+15.0%) to Germany (+20.3%), Italy (+22.5%), the UK (+37.1%) and Spain (+41.4%). Over eleven months, the UK was the only major market to sustain demand (+12.5%). Elsewhere, downturn ranged from -2.4% in Spain to -4.5% in France, -5.6% in Germany and -10.6% in Italy, leading to a slight contraction of the EU* market (-0.6% ) which registered 197,905 new heavy trucks.
New Buses & Coaches over 3.5t
In November, new truck registrations amounted to 28,787 units, or 24.5% more than in November last year. All major markets posted double-digit growths ranging from +12.3% in Germany to +13.6% in Italy, +13.7% in France, +30.6% in Spain and +38.8% in the UK. From January to November, the UK was the only significant market to expand (+7.9%). Spain (-3.9%), France (-5.8%), Germany (-5.9%) and Italy (-14.2%) all performed less well than in the first eleven months of 2012. Overall, the EU* recorded a total of 260,862 new trucks, or 2.1% less than in the same period last year.
New Buses & Coaches over 3.5t
In November, the EU* counted 2,708 new bus and coach registrations, or 5.5% more than in the same month a year ago. Germany remained the largest market in spite of a 2.1% downturn. All other major markets saw their demand for new buses and coaches increase, from +8.5% in Italy to +8.8% in France, +30.0% in Spain and +38.1% in the UK. From January to November, the UK proved to be the largest market (-7.2%), followed by France (+9.7%), Germany (+6.8%), Italy (+3.1%) and Spain (-3.8%). Over eleven months, the number of new bus and coach registrations remained stable (-0.0%), amounting to 28,807 units.
* Data for Malta unavailable
