New commercial vehicle sales register strong growth across EU

In December 2015, EU demand for new commercial vehicles registered a strong increase (+14.8%), totalling 191,826 units over the month and marking one year of consecutive growth.

Total new commercial vehicles

In December 2015, EU demand for new commercial vehicles registered a strong increase (+14.8%), totalling 191,826 units over the month and marking one year of consecutive growth. Growth was significantly sustained across all commercial vehicle segments. Italy (+23.2%), Spain (+23.0%), the UK (+20.3%) ended the year extremely strong by posting double digit percentage gains in December, followed by France (+9.4%) and Germany (+8.7%).

In 2015, the EU market showed a consistent uplift (+12.4%) and rose for the third year in a row, exceeding two million commercial vehicles registered (2,079,322). During the year, Spain (+36.4%) showed the most significant increase, followed by the UK (+16.7%), Italy (+13.2%), Germany (+4.3%) and France (+3.1%) – all performing better than 2014.

ACEA stats copyNew light commercial vehicles (LCV)

In December 2015, new registrations of light commercial vehicles totalled 160,518 units, up (+13.5%) compared to December 2014. This marked the 28th consecutive month of growth in the segment. Italy (+23.9%), Spain (+23.8%), the UK (+14.6%), France (+8.7%) and Germany (+5.6%) all positively contributed to this upturn.

In 2015, 1,713,850 new vans were registered in the EU (+11.6%). All major markets saw their demand for vans increase over the year, in particular Spain (+36.1%), the UK (+15.6%) and Italy (+12.4%).

New heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) over 16 tonnes

December 2015 results show a significant uplift in the heavy truck segment (+22.4%), which saw 20,839 new vehicles being registered. The UK (+97.1%) largely contributed to this positive outcome, almost doubling its registrations compared to December 2014.

In 2015, the new heavy truck market in the EU was up by 19.4%, reaching 260,135 units. Spain (+38.7%), the UK (+32.1%), Italy (+25.3%), France (+12.7%) and Germany (+5.3%) saw demand for heavy trucks increase, supporting the overall upturn in the region. Noteworthy are the positive contributions from the Netherlands (+34.4%) and Poland (+31.7%).

In December 2015, new truck registrations in the EU totalled 27,315 units, up (+23.7%) compared to December 2014. The UK market finished the year strongly (+75.6%) after showing decline in October. Also Spain (+19.5%), Germany (+19.5%), France (+13.2%) and Italy (+10.1%) showed large upturns at the end of 2015.

In 2015, 325,689 new trucks (+16.2%) were registered in the EU. Looking at the five major markets, Spain (+38.4%), the UK (+24.5%), Italy (+21.3%) and France (+10.3%) posted the highest increases over the year.

In December 2015, new bus and coach registrations increased (+11.1%) compared to December 2014, totalling roughly four thousand units. Italy (+79.1%), France (+33.0%), the UK (+32.6%) and Germany (+11.6%) largely contributed to the overall expansion.

In 2015, the EU market increased (+17.8%), totalling 39,783 new buses and coaches. Demand was primarily driven by Spain (+38.0%), the UK (+27.2%) and France (+24.6%), followed by Italy (+13.3%) and Germany (+8.6%). Significant growth was also recorded for the Romanian market (+101.1%).