EU April new commercial vehicles registrations up 15% – ACEA

LONDON (ICIS)–New commercial vehicles registrations in the EU rose in April by 14.6% year on year to 195,013 units with all vehicle segments posting increases, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said on Wednesday.

Four major markets within the EU posted double-digit increases in April, year on year, led by Italy with an upturn of 32.5% and 16,212 vehicles registered, followed by Spain (19.5% and 17,457 units), Germany (12.3% and 31,919) and the UK (11.2% and 32,444 vehicles sold). France also posted a strong increase in April at 9.6% and 41,094 units.

During the four first months of the year, the total EU new vehicle registrations rose by 12.8% compared to the first four months of 2015 to 758,566 units registered, with all major markets posting increases.

By countries, during the four-month period the UK posted an increase of 4.1% with 144,297 units registered, France with 154,061 vehicles registered achieved a 10.1% uptick while Germany with 113,632 units posted a 10% increase.

Spain and Italy posted the healthiest increases for the four-month period, with upticks of 12.9% and 29.2%, respectively, to 62,815 and 60,919 units.

By vehicle type, the better performance of the EU’s economy in the first months of the year brought increases in registrations of vans, buses and trucks.

New light commercial vehicles (LCV), mostly commercial vehicles of up to 3.5 tonnes, posted an uptick in April’s registrations of 13.6% to 159,012 units, while from January to April 2016 11.8% more vans were registered in the EU, year on year, totalling 625,898 units.

April’s registrations of new heavy commercial vehicles (HCV), heavy trucks of over 16 tonnes, increased by 22.2% year on year to 26,457 new registrations, while the January-April period saw an uptick in registrations of 19.6%, reaching 98,397 units.

Registrations of new medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV), trucks of over 3.5 tonnes but lighter than 16 tonnes, saw an uptick of 21.3% year on year in April, to 32,706 new trucks. From January to April 2016, 120,330 new units were registered in the EU, 19% more than in the same four-month period of 2015.

The smallest increase by vehicle type in April corresponded to new medium and heavy buses and coaches (MHBC) of over 3.5 tonnes, with 3,295 units registered, up 2.7% year on year. January-April 2016 registrations were up 3.5% to 12,338 units.

EU total new commercial vehicle registrations.
12-month trend, May ’15-April ’16

Source: ACEA

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