In November, new registrations of commercial vehicles were up 8.9%, growing for the third consecutive month and totaling 152,439 units, according to data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA). All segments benefitted from the upturn. France was the only market to contract (-2.2 percent), while Italy (+1.1 percent), Germany (+10.0 percent), the UK (+22.8 percent) and Spain (+26.0 percent) 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 percent less than in the first eleven months of 2012. Results varied across markets as the Spanish (+6.3 percent) and the UK (+10.7 percent) expanded, while the German (-4.3 percent), French (-5.5 percent) and Italian (-14.2 percent) markets faced a downturn.

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

In November, demand for new vans was up 5.8 percent, amounting to 120,944 units, according to the ACEA. Looking at the major markets, the Italian remained stable (-0.3 percent), while the French shrank by 4.2 percent, and the UK (+19.4 percent) and Spanish (+25.0 percent) posted a double-digit growth. Eleven months into the year, new van registrations increased in both Spain (+8.3 percent) and the UK (+11.7 percent). Germany (-3.9 percent), France (-5.7 percent) and Italy (-14.5 percent) fared less well, leading to an overall 1.7 percent 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 percent with a total of 22,483 new registrations, according to the ACEA. All significant markets expanded, from France (+15.0 percent) to Germany (+20.3 percent), Italy (+22.5 percent), the UK (+37.1 percent) and Spain (+41.4 percent). Over eleven months, the UK was the only major market to sustain demand (+12.5 percent). Elsewhere, downturn ranged from -2.4 percent in Spain to -4.5 percent in France, -5.6 percent in Germany and -10.6 percent in Italy, leading to a slight contraction of the EU* market (-0.6 percent) which registered 197,905 new heavy trucks.

* Data for Malta unavailable