Following the release of strong figures for passenger cars, the Dataforce data also shows that across all five major markets the True Fleet Market (commercial registrations without manufacturers, dealerships and Rent-A-Cars) expanded by 10.8%. Within the five countries Spain achieved the most impressive growth rate. The figures are released as ACEA data shows that 2014 CV registrations rose 7.6% in the EU.

France

Despite very positive figures in December the French market for light commercial vehicles did not quite reach the volume from last year. The decline of 1.3% until the end of November could ultimately be reduced to 0.5% for the full year. In absolute terms, France remains the largest commercial vehicle market out of the five countries included in this analysis. Two out of the five top selling brands (Citroen in second position and Ford in fourth) were able to increase their registrations compared to 2013. Four of the five best-selling models were Renault. However a special characteristic has to be taken into consideration while analysing the French market: a significant volume of van derivatives of small cars is registered as commercial vehicles. The Renault Clio Van was actually the second strongest model behind the Renault Kangoo and within the top 10 you can find van derivatives of the Peugeot 208 and Citroen C3 as well.

Germany

A very strong December pushed the year-on-year growth to 9.5 percent for the light commercial vehicles. Volkswagen and Mercedes were able to expand their dominant market position even further. These two manufacturers represented 58% of all new registrations of light commercial vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes and occupied the first five positions in the model ranking (Volkswagen Transporter, Mercedes Sprinter, Volkswagen Caddy, Mercedes Vito and Volkswagen Crafter). Ford (in 3rd place, + 11.7%) and Opel (climbing to 5th position, + 19.2%) significantly increased their registrations and expanded their market shares.

Italy

Fiat dominated its domestic commercial vehicle fleet market with a share of 39% and a volume increase of 20 percent over the previous year. The growth within Fiat was based on a variety of models. Especially the Fiat Doblo was performing noticeable (+ 37.3%) taking over the pole position from the Fiat Ducato. Behind Fiat there was a close race between Peugeot (8.2% market share) and Renault (7.9%) followed by Ford. This brand improved by two positions in the ranking and increased its market share to 7.1%.

Spain

The ranking in Spain was similar to the one in France and headed by Renault, Citroen and Peugeot. Especially the first two brands were able to increase their registrations significantly. With growth rates of 52.9% and 46.8% respectively they outperformed the True Fleet Market in total (+ 37.5%). Despite this impressive result Spain remains the smallest of the EU-5 commercial vehicle markets with approximately half the annual registration volume in Italy. Similar to the passenger cars the commercial vehicle market is supported by a scrappage-scheme program which somewhat boosted the growth rates. The model ranking shows a very diversified picture. Behind the small vans of the French manufacturers – Renault Kangoo, Citroen Berlingo and Peugeot Partner – the Dacia Dokker ranked in fourth position (5th in 2013) followed by the Fiat Fiorino (only 18th last year).

UK

In the UK (the second-largest market for light commercial vehicles behind France) the result was more than satisfying with an increase of 21.9% over 2013. Ford was clearly leading with a market share of 21.5%. As in Germany Mercedes ranked second in the UK (market share of 12.4%). The Mercedes Sprinter was the best-selling model. However Peugeot was the brand with the most considerable improvement. With a volume growth of 65.2% the French manufacturer jumped in third position in the ranking overtaking Citroen, Opel and Volkswagen. The Peugeot Partner ranked third as well behind Mercedes Sprinter and Ford Transit Custom, followed by the Citroen Berlingo and Opel Vivaro