Commercial vehicle registrations in the EU rose 3.2% last year despite a 3.5% fall in December. 

2017 commercial vehicle registrations rose 3.2% in the EU.

Latest results from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) show overall demand in the EU for commercial vehicles remained positive, with some 2.4m additional registrations compared to 2016 (+3.2%). Spain drove this growth with the highest percentage increase (+13.5%), followed by France (+6.9%) and Germany (+3.3%). By contrast, demand in Italy (-2.3%) and the United Kingdom (-4.4%) fell in 2017.

In contrast, December demand fell across all segments in the five major European markets, with the exception of Germany that saw an increase of 0.2%. At the other end of the spectrum, Italy saw a decline of 17.4% in December.

Demand for new light commercial vehicles (LCVs) up to 3.5 tonnes rose 3.2% last year to 2.0 million units with Spain (+15.5%), France (+7.1%) and Germany (+4.9%) witnessing the largest growth, whereas demand for vans declined in the UK (-3.6%) and Italy (-3.4%).

December van demand fell 3% with 172,603 vehicles registered in total. Rises were seen in Germany (+2.2%) and the UK (+2.9%), while demand contracted in Italy (-18.0%), France (-3.9%) and Spain (-1.7%).

For new medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV) over 3.5 tonnes, a total of 367,102 units were registered last year, down just 0.2%. France (+6.5%) and Italy (+4.5%) performed well in 2017, but truck registrations fell in the UK and Germany (-7.1% and -0.9% respectively).

December truck results were down 6.7%, with 29,051 units registered. Demand declined in the United Kingdom (-22.2%), Italy (-13.5%), Spain (-5.8%) and Germany (-5.3%), but it did grow in France (+7.5%).

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