Paris, France: Commercial vehicle sales in the European Union rose 1.5% in June as a recovery in the highly cyclical segment slowed from previous months. Truck sales, still up 13.5% in the first half of the year, are seen as an economic bellwether.
In total 165,767 new commercial vehicles were registered in June across the region as rises in the UK and Germany were offset by drops in Spain and France, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said today in a statement.
The 1.5% rise in June commercial vehicle sales compared with a 25.1% year-on-year increase in May and a 9.5% increase in April. Sales of vans up to 3.5 tonnes fell 1.3% in June. Sales of trucks over 16-tonnes rose 36.9% year-on-year, with growth in all major markets. Sales of trucks over 3.5 tonnes rose 21.3% the association said.
Truck and heavy equipment maker Fiat Industrial on Monday raised its 2011 targets after beating second-quarter profit forecasts, helped by record margins for agricultural equipment and a recovery in European truck markets. Last week Volvo, the world’s second-largest truck maker after Daimler, said Chinese measures to slow inflation would hit the booming market as it presented an otherwise upbeat quarterly report. Rival Scania on Thursday posted higher sales volumes but offset by higher costs that reduced margins.
