Commercial vehicle registrations: +3.8% 11 months into 2018; +2.7% in November

In November 2018, EU demand for commercial vehicles continued to grow (+2.7%), although at a slower pace than in October.

Total new commercial vehicles

In November 2018, EU demand for commercial vehicles continued to grow (+2.7%), although at a slower pace than in October. This growth was mostly supported by the van segment, while registrations of new trucks and buses remained steady. The UK saw the biggest uplift (+6.8%) last month, followed by Germany (+6.6%) and France (+3.0%). By contrast, demand contracted in Spain and Italy (down 5.9% and 7.2% respectively) in November.

During the first 11 months of 2018, almost 2.3 million new commercial vehicles were registered in the European Union, up 3.8% compared to 2017. Registrations contracted in Italy (-2.8%) and the United Kingdom (-1.3%), but the Spanish (+6.5%), German (5.5%) and French (+5.2%) markets all performed well so far this year.

New light commercial vehicles (LCV) up to 3.5t

In November 2018, registrations of light commercial vehicles in the EU increased by 3.2% compared to one year ago. Looking at the five major markets, both Spain (-3.3%) and Italy (-7.7%) saw demand fall. However, registrations of new vans did increase in the UK (+9.6%), Germany (+6.4%) and France (+3.1%) last month.

From January to November 2018, EU van registrations were 3.7% higher than in the same period last year, totalling close to 1.9 million units sold. Spain (+7.6%), Germany (+6.2%) and France (+4.8%) posted positive results, but demand for light commercial vehicles declined in both the UK (-0.7%) and Italy (-5.0%).

New heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) of 16t and over

November 2018 results show a slight slowdown (-0.5%) in registrations of new heavy trucks across the EU last month. Demand fell significantly in Spain (-22.7%) and Italy (-13.7%) but was partially sustained by the German and French markets (up 8.9% and 6.8% respectively).

Eleven months into the year, EU demand for heavy trucks maintained momentum (+4.7%), with 290,988 new vehicles registered so far in 2018. The United Kingdom (-6.2%) and Spain (-2.5%) saw registrations decline over this period, while France (+9.9%), Italy (+6.1%) and Germany (+4.3%) contributed positively to EU growth.

New medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV) over 3.5t

In November 2018, new truck registrations remained stable (+0.2%) compared to November 2017. The EU’s five biggest markets showed different trends: while the Spanish (-20.1%), Italian (-9.5%) and UK (-3.5%) markets contracted strongly, demand for trucks increased in Germany (+8.2%) and France (+5.5%).

From January to November 2018, 357,270 new trucks were registered across the European Union – or 4.7% more than in the same period last year. France (+8.8%), Italy (+8.1%) and Germany (+3.9%) posted solid growth, but the United Kingdom (-4.1%) and Spain (-0.7%) performed worse than in 2017.

New medium and heavy buses & coaches (MHBC) over 3.5t

November 2018 results for the bus and coach segment show a slight increase (+0.5%), which contrasts heavily with the exceptional growth observed in October. The excellent performance of the Central European markets (+71.1%) provided crucial support to the overall results of the region. By contrast, with the exception of Italy (+54.7%) all major EU markets posted strong declines in November.

Over the first 11 months of the year, EU demand for new buses and coaches grew by 2.8% compared to one year ago. Growth was largely driven by the Italian market (+39.9%), given that registrations fell in the United Kingdom (-10.6%), Spain (-4.7%) and Germany (-0.9%).