The European commercial vehicle market declined in March, with demand falling across all segments.
During the month, a total of 260,810 units were sold, 2.5% down on the same month in 2017. All major markets, with the exception of France, saw a decline, with Germany posting the biggest drop of 7.6%. The UK, which is struggling with new vehicle sales, saw a fall in sales of 5.9%, while the Italian market declined 3.5% and Spain fell 1.9%. The French market grew 7.7% in the month.
In the first quarter of the year, demand for new commercial vehicles in Europe remained positive, despite the drop in March. The market grew 2.6% with new registrations totalling 622,439 units during the period, with Spain showing the strongest growth, up 9.2%. They were followed by France with a rise of 6.2%, Italy with 4.8% more sales and Germany growing its market by 0.4%. However, the UK saw a decline of 4.6% in its commercial vehicle market.
Graph courtesy of ACEA
In the light commercial vehicle (LCV) up to 3.5 tonnes market, EU demand was lower than a year ago, dropping by 2.2%, with 220,835 registrations. France was the only market to record growth, up 8.2%. Germany (6.7%), the UK (5.6%), Italy (4.7%) and Spain (2.1%) all saw their demand for vans decrease in March.
So far in 2018, more than half a million new light commercial vehicles were registered across the European Union; 2.8% more than during the same period one year ago. Spain (9.3%), France (6.0%), Italy (4.1%) and Germany (2.3%) all posted growth. In the United Kingdom, however, LCV registrations declined by 3.7% during the first quarter of the year.
The medium and heavy commercial vehicle (MHCV) sector saw a decline in March of 3%. Overall, 36,208 new trucks were registered in the EU during the last month, with Germany leading the decline (9.8%). The UK (5%), and Spain (0.8%) also saw decline, while France grew its market by 5.6%.
From January to March 2018, new truck demand saw a modest increase (2.2%), counting 94,328 new vehicles. France (9.7%), Italy (8.0%) and Spain (5.6%) performed well, but truck registrations fell in the UK and Germany, 10.0% and 4.5% down respectively.
For heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) of 16 tonnes or over, March 2018 saw a decline of 2.7%, in line with the MHCV sector. Heavy-truck demand slowed in Germany, down 10.5%, Italy declined 4.8%, the UK market fell 4.3%, and Spain dropped by 3.2%, although the French market did very well up 9.1%.
Three months into the year the EU market grew by 2.9%, counting 77,952 new heavy trucks. The French and Italian markets showed the strongest gains (up respectively 12.1% and 10.5%). On the other hand, demand for heavy commercial vehicles declined in the United Kingdom (7.8%) and Germany (6.4%) so far in 2018.
Finally, medium and heavy buses and coaches (MHBC) saw a strong contraction, dropping by 12.6% to just 3,767 units. The UK saw the biggest drop in its market falling 28% in March, followed by Germany, down 11.9%, and France which declined 10.8%. However, Italy and Spain saw growth, up 31.7% and 8.7% respectively.
Over the first three months of 2018, the EU bus and coach market decreased by 2.7%, counting 9,660 new vehicles registered. Demand only increased in Spain (31.2%) and Italy (13.4%), while registrations contracted in the United Kingdom (16.8%), France (14.0%) and Germany (6.1%).
