Commercial vehicle registrations in the EU increased 13.2% in November, following a decline in the preceding month, helping to put the market strongly ahead of 2015 for the year to date.

The Italian market posted the highest increase in registrations, up 70.2%.

Latest figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) show that registrations last month reached 203,799, with growth seen across all segments and all major markets.

The Italian market posted the highest increase (+70.2%), followed by France (+15.0%), Spain (+14.2%), the UK (+3.7%) and Germany (+1.8%). For the first 11 months of 2016, CV registrations in the EU were up +11.7%, totalling more than 2.1 million vehicles.

During that period, Italy (+44.2%), Spain (+11.1%), France (+8.9%), Germany (+7.4%), and the United Kingdom (+2.2%) all posted growth. For new light commercial vehicles (LCVs) up to 3.5 tonnes, EU demand grew considerably (+13.5%) in November after an October slowdown, totalling 168,667 units.

Demand was mainly driven by Italy (+66.0%), France (+16.1%) and Spain (+11.9%), while the British (+2.5%) and German (+2.1%) markets only saw modest increases. From January to November 2016, 1,741,498 new vans were registered in the EU, 12.1% more than in the same period a year ago.

All five major markets reported growth, with Italy up +44.8%, Spain +10.9%, Germany +8.9%, France +8.7% and the UK +2.1%. Looking at new medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV) over 3.5 tonnes, November truck registrations were up 12.8% compared to the same month last year.

Overall, 31,555 new trucks were registered in the European Union. Among the major markets, Italian registrations more than doubled (+105.2%) in November, as the government stimulates fleet renewal (since last September). Spain (+23.0%), France (+15.0%) and the UK (+11.7%) also posted strong gains.

So far in 2016, 334,460 new trucks were registered in the EU, 10.9% more than in the same period last year. Italy (+43.7%), France (+13.4%) and Spain (+11.0%) made particularly significant contributions to this. For new heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) over 16 tonnes, November registrations rose +12.1% compared to November last year, totalling 25,156 units.

Among the big five markets, Italy (+90.7%), Spain (+25.1%) and France (+14.4%) registered the highest growth rates, while demand for new HCVs in Germany (-1.2%) dropped slightly. For the first 11 months of the year, demand for new heavy trucks continued to increase (+11.9%), with 267,987 new vehicles being registered in the EU.

All major markets made a positive contribution to the overall upturn, especially the Italian (+41.9%) and French (+13.6%) ones with their double-digit increases.