EU commercial vehicle registrations increased for the third consecutive month (+4.1%) in March, pushing the Q1 total up 5.1% on the same period in 2018.

EU commercial vehicle registrations increased for the third consecutive month (+4.1%) in March

The figures from ACEA show that with the exception of buses and coaches, all segments contributed to last month’s growth.

Three of the five largest EU markets posted positive results: the United Kingdom (+10.3%), Germany (+8.7%) and Spain (+4.9%). By contrast, registrations fell by 3.4% in Italy last month, while French volumes remained more or less similar to last year (-0.3%).

In total, 654,657 new commercial vehicles were registered across the region from January to March 2019. Germany posted double-digit gains (+12.8%), followed by the UK (+8.9%), France (+4.4%) and Spain (+3.1%). Italy, however, saw a slight decline in demand (-0.5%). In t9.

The van segment recorded the strongest growth in March, with registrations increasing by 4.6% to 230,787 units. Germany and the UK drove this increase (+11.3% and +10.6% respectively) to a large extent, although the Spanish market also expanded by 7.0%. However, demand contracted in both Italy (-2.1%) and France (-0.7%) last month.

For the first three months of the year, van registrations grew by 5.0%, counting 544,085 units in total. The five largest EU markets all posted gains during the first quarter of the year: Germany (+12.1%), the United Kingdom (+8.9%), France (+4.2%), Spain (+4.0%) and Italy (+1.3%).

March 2019 registrations of heavy trucks saw a modest increase (+2.1%). Growth was sustained by the United Kingdom (+10.5%), Germany (+4.8%) and France (+3.8%), while demand fell in Spain (‐11.8%) and Italy (‐7.9%).

From January to March 2019, 82,993 new heavy trucks were registered across in the EU, or 5.5% more than the year before. The UK (+16.9%) and Germany (+16.6%) made an important contribution to this result, as heavy truck registrations declined in both Italy (‐10.9%) and Spain (-2.4%) in the first quarter.

Looking at new trucks, demand continued to expand in March (+2.1%), although at a more modest pace than in February. Results were diverse among the five key EU markets, with the UK (+11.7%), France (+4.5%) and Germany (+4.2%) posting growth, but Spain (-13.2%) and Italy (-11.0%) facing strong declines.

So far in 2019, the EU truck market grew by 5.7% to reach 100,708 units in total, with Germany (+16.2%) and the UK (+15.3%) recording the highest increases. By contrast, new truck registrations decreased in Spain and Italy (-2.9% and -11.4% respectively) during the first quarter of the year.