Britain bucks European truck sales slump

Brussels: The UK is the only European country to record an increase in new truck registrations last month.  But registrations for the year are down in all countries, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.

In September, 150,910 new commercial vehicles were registered in the EU, 13.7% less than in the same month last year. The downturn prevailed across all markets, ranging from -3.2% in Ireland to -51.2% in Greece.

Looking at the largest markets, the UK was the only one to expand (+0.7%) while France (-13.4%), Germany (-16.6%), Italy (-28.2%) and Spain (-32.7%) all contracted.

From January to September, demand for commercial vehicles was down by 10.7%, with 1,282,248 new registrations. All major markets recorded negative figures: -3.1% in the UK, -4.2% in Germany, -7.7% in France, -25.7% in Spain, -34.6% in Italy.

Van sales (light commercials up to 3.5 tonnes) declined 13.5% in the EU except in the UK (+1.1%) and Slovakia (+9.5%).

New heavy truck sales (over 16 tonne) fell 14.8% in September. All significant markets contracted, from -6.7% in the UK to -18.6% in France, -22.9% in Germany, -28.6% in Spain and -33.8% in Italy.