European commercial vehicle market still lags behind pre-crisis period

In May this year 143,990 new commercial vehicles were registered in the European Union. The figure is 7.7 percent higher than in May 2009, but 34.6 percent lower than in the same month of 2008, according to the report released by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) The segment of vans (+9.4 percent) was the driver of the year-on-year upturn, while the other vehicle categories posted negative results.
 
On the other hand, in the first five months of 2010, the EU commercial vehicle market expanded by 2.4 percent year on year, registering 722,767 new units. A comparison with the pre-crisis period of January-May 2008 shows a drop of 36.3 percent.