Europe sees growth in commercial vehicle sales but decline in passenger cars
April 27, 2011
Over the first quarter of 2011 new registrations of commercial vehicles in Europe amounted to 499,456 units, some 14.7% more than in the same period last year. The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association reported that all segments posted growth, except buses and coaches.
In absolute figures, France recorded the most vehicles (+11.6%), followed by the UK (+30.0%) and Germany (+30.9%) which performed similarly. Heavy trucks (over 16t) witnessed the highest growth for the period with an increase of 65%, followed by new trucks (over 3.5t), which had an increase of 50.7% for the first quarter 2011. Light commercial vehicles (up to 3.5t), the largest sector by volume, increased by 10.2% to a total of 415,187 units.
New European commercial vehicle sales (courtesy ACEA European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association)
Passenger car sales fall
In contrast to the positive growth in commercial vehicles, European passenger cars sales fell by 2.3% in the first quarter 2011, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.
New European passenger car sales over last 12 months (courtesy ACEA European Automobile
Manufacturers’ Association)
Although most markets expanded, prominent ones, such as the British (-8.7%), the Italian (-23.1%) and the Spanish (-27.3%) recorded losses. The steepest fall was noted in Greece (-57.4%) and the largest growth recorded in Latvia (+131.7%). The Latvian market remained however the smallest (1,902 units) while Germany registered the most vehicles (763,403) over the first quarter.
In total, some 3,583,185 passenger cars were registered in Europe during Q1 2011.
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