Demand for new commercial vehicles in the EU remained positive for the first quarter despite a slowdown in March.

CV demand in the EU remained upbeat for Q1 despite the March downturn.

Latest figures from the ACEA show registrations rose 2.6% to 622,439 units for the first three months of the year. Spain (+9.2%) showed the strongest growth, followed by France (+6.2%), Italy (+4.8%) and Germany (+0.4%), but demand for commercial vehicles declined by 4.6% in the UK.

In March 2018, new commercial vehicle registrations in the EU declined by 2.5%, totalling 260,810 units. Demand fell across all commercial vehicle segments and in all major EU markets except for France (+7.7%). Germany posted the biggest drop last month (-7.6%), followed by the UK (-5.9%), Italy (-3.5%) and Spain (-1.9%).

For new light commercial vehicles (LCV) up to 3.5 tonnes, more than half a million new light commercial vehicles were registered across the European Union in Q1; 2.8% more than during the same period one year ago. Spain (+9.3%), France (+6.0%), Italy (+4.1%) and Germany (+2.3%) all posted growth. In the United Kingdom, however, LCV registrations declined by 3.7% during the first quarter of the year.

March demand for vans was 2.2% lower than a year ago, reaching 220,835 vehicles in total. New LCV registrations only grew in France (+8.2%). Germany (-6.7%), the UK (-5.6%), Italy (-4.7%) and Spain (-2.1%) all saw their demand for vans decrease in March.

For new medium and heavy commercial vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, Q1 demand was up 2.2%, counting 94,328 new vehicles. France (+9.7%), Italy (+8.0%) and Spain (+5.6%) performed well, but truck registrations fell in the UK and Germany (-10.0% and -4.5% respectively) during the first three months of 2018.

In March 2018, the truck segment performed less well (-3.0%) than in March 2017, in line with the heavy-truck segment. Overall, 36,208 new trucks were registered in the EU last month. Demand declined in Germany (-9.8%), the United Kingdom (-5.0%) and Spain (-0.8%) but did grow in France (+5.6%).