November EU Commercial Vehicle Sales Flat. YTD -20%

Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on EU Commercial Vehicle Sales Demand for commercial vehicles in the EU was flat in November with new registrations up 0.1% to 167,315 units. Sales of vans and buses slowed down last month, while the heavy truck segment posted +6% to the tally.

The four biggest markets posted mixed performances in November, with registrations contracting in Spain (-7.0%) and France (-3.1%), while the Italian (+11.7%) and German (+4.3%) markets expanded.

Year-to-date reflects the ongoing Covid catastrophe. Sales at 1.5 million units  were down -20.3% 11 months into 2020. All EU27 markets – including the four major ones – have recorded double-digit declines so far in 2020, although less steep than in the preceding months: Spain (-28.4%), France (-18.4%), Germany (-16.3%) and Italy (-15.6%).

From January to November 2020, new van registrations declined by -18.7% across the European Union, now standing at 1.3 million units. Spain recorded the sharpest drop (-28.8%) so far this year, while losses were less strong in France (-17.6%), Italy (-15.4%) and Germany (-13.4%).

New Heavy Commercial Vehicles (HCV) of 16t

Last month, the EU market for heavy trucks improved, with new registrations up by 6.0% to 20,620 units. Central European countries (+28.6%) largely contributed to this result. Among the largest Western European markets however, only Italy (+28.5%) grew.

So far in 2020, 181,590 new heavy commercial vehicles were registered across the European Union, a decline of -29.6% compared to 2019. Despite last month’s positive performance, each of the 27 EU markets recorded double-digit drops so far this year, including Germany (-28.6%), France (-27.9%), Spain (-23.9%) and Italy (-14.2%).

New Medium And Heavy Commercial Vehicles (MHCV) over 3.5t

In November 2020, demand for new medium and heavy trucks posted a modest upturn (+3.7%), benefiting from the positive performance of the heavy-duty segment (which makes up the bulk of total truck demand). As for the biggest EU markets, Italy recorded the strongest gain (+21.7%), followed by France (+1.3%) which posted a more modest growth. By contrast, MHCV registrations slid -3.0% in Germany and -1.0% in Spain.

Eleven months into the year, registrations of new trucks declined sharply across the European Union including in the four major markets: France (-26.2%), Germany (-26.1%), Spain (-23.3%) and Italy
(-15.1%). This contributed to a cumulative retreat of -27.7% to a total of 226,427 trucks registered so far in 2020.

New Medium And Heavy Buses & Coaches (MHBC) over 3.5t

In November 2020, new bus and coach registrations in the EU slid back by -5.1% compared to November last year. Although all major Western European markets – Italy (+27.0%), France (+13.4%), Germany (+11.6%) and Spain (+5.8%) – posted positive results, Central European countries (-22.6%) dragged down the overall performance of the region.

From January to November 2020, EU demand for buses and coaches contracted by -23.5%, counting 25,532 new registrations in total. Among the largest EU markets, Spain (-41.3%) and Italy (-27.3%) continued to struggle 11 months into the year, while losses were more limited in France (-9.5%) and Germany (-2.4%).

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