ACEA has revealed in April 2021, the EU commercial vehicle market recorded an accelerated increase in new registrations of 179.2%, totalling 171,283 units.
Last year’s very low sales base was the main reason behind this growth, as April 2020 was the first full month with coronavirus restrictions in place.
As a result, many triple-digit percentage gains were posted across the region last month, including three of the four key markets: Italy (+642.3%), Spain (+547.3%) and France (+412.9%). With a 60.0% increase Germany also made a sizeable contribution to the EU’s overall performance.
Four months into 2021, demand for new commercial vehicles in the European Union reportedly expanded by 42.1%. Boosted by positive March and April results, total registrations reached 673,179 units so far in 2021. All key markets consolidated their year-to-date performances: Italy posted the highest percentage increase (+75.1%), followed by France (+62.9%), Spain (+43.8%) and Germany (+15.1%).
New light commercial vehicles (LCV) up to 3.5t
April saw a marked increase (+209.5%) in sales of new vans in the EU, counting 143,185 units registered in total. This accelerated growth trend was also reflected at country level in the four biggest markets: Italy (+972.1%), Spain (+771.0%), France (+471.2%) and Germany (+70.8%).
From January to April, registrations of light commercial vehicles across the European Union jumped by 45.9% due to the strong results recorded in March and April. Each of the major EU markets saw an increase in demand for vans during the four-month period: Italy (+83.7%), France (+67.5%), Spain (+47.9%) and Germany (+16.5%).
New heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) of 16t and over
In April 2021, the number of new heavy trucks registered across the European Union more than doubled (+103.3%) compared to 2020 levels, totalling 21,889 units. The four big markets reportedly made a major contribution to the region’s performance: Italy (+183.8%), France (+156.8%), Spain (+115.0%) and Germany (+44.0%).
So far in 2021, heavy truck registrations increased by 33.2% to reach 85,858 units sold in total across the EU. Each of the major markets posted double-digit percentage gains from January to April: Italy (+49.1%), Spain (+34.2%), France (+29.3%) and Germany (+17.1%).
New medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV) over 3.5t
26,256 new heavy commercial vehicles were also registered in the EU, or 86.3% more than one year ago. Central Europe provided a strong boost (+188.7%) to this growth, with Poland – one of the leading markets in volume terms – posting a 241.2% increase in new truck registrations. Western Europe’s largest markets also performed well last month: Italy (+170.7%), France (+163.2%), Spain (+95.5%) and Germany (+32.6%).
During the first four months of 2021, EU registrations of new trucks rose by 28.5% compared to the year before. Italy saw the highest percentage growth (+46.0%) of the region’s key markets, followed by France (+32.4%), Spain (+25.3%) and Germany (+12.7%).
New medium and heavy buses & coaches (MHBC) over 3.5t
April 2021 registrations of new buses and coaches in the European Union jumped by 86.4% to reach 1,842 units sold. The four major EU markets all contributed positively to the region’s result, especially France and Spain – both growing by 103.6%.
From January to April, EU demand for buses and coaches remained in negative territory (-1.2%) despite last month’s strong numbers. Looking at the largest markets by volume, Spain (-26.5%) posted the sharpest drop, while declines moderated in Italy (-9.7%) and Germany (-8.8%). By contrast, France was the only major market to record growth (+11.2%) so far in 2021.
