New commercial vehicle registrations across the EU in July this year continued the downward trend commenced in January, with a year-on-year decrease of 5.1 percent, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA). New commercial vehicle registrations decreased further in August by 12.4 percent compared to same month of last year, totaling 102,877 units, as a downturn prevailed across the major markets, with decreases of six percent in Germany, 11.5 percent in the UK, 15.5 percent in France, 25 percent in Spain and 27.2 percent in Italy, all year on year.
In the first eight months of this year, a total of 1,131,238 new commercial vehicles were registered in the EU-27, or down 10.3 percent from the same period a year ago. Looking at new registrations in the major markets in the EU-27 region in the first eight months of the year, France remained the largest market, despite a seven percent year-on-year contraction, followed by Germany (-2.5 percent) and the UK (-4 percent). Spain (-24.9 percent) and Italy (-35.3 percent) recorded more severe drops.
In the January-August period of the year, new heavy commercial vehicle registrations in the EU declined by 6.7 percent to 143,830 units, compared to January-August 2011. In the period in question, the EU registered a 6.2 percent year-on-year drop in registrations of new trucks to 173,861. In the meantime, buses and coaches were once again the only segment to record positive results with a 4.9 percent year-on-year increase in new registrations, mainly driven by the British market (+68.8 percent year on year).