New commercial vehicle registrations across the EU in September this year continued the downward trend commenced in January, with a year-on-year decrease of 13.7 percent, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA). New commercial vehicle registrations totaled 150,910 units, as a downturn prevailed across the major markets, with decreases of 13.4 percent in France, 16.6 percent in Germany, 28.2 percent in Italy, 32.7 percent in Spain, while the UK was the only market to expand, with an increase of 0.7 percent, all year on year.
In the first nine months of this year, a total of 1,282,248 new commercial vehicles were registered in the EU-27, or down 10.7 percent from the same period a year ago. Looking at new registrations in the major markets in the EU-27 region in the first nine months of the year, France remained the largest market, despite an eight percent year-on-year contraction, followed by the UK (-3.1 percent) and Germany (-4.2 percent). Spain (-25.7 percent) and Italy (-34.6 percent) recorded more severe drops.
In the January-September period of the year, new heavy commercial vehicle registrations in the EU declined by 7.7 percent to 162,355 units, compared to January-September 2011. In the period in question, the EU registered a 15.7 percent year-on-year drop in registrations of new trucks to 217,104. In the meantime, buses and coaches were once again the only segment to record positive results with a 3.7 percent year-on-year increase in new registrations, mainly driven by the British market (+55 percent year on year).