European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) figures for commercial vehicle registrations in August show the UK market continues to post strong results compared to 2013, as European registrations maintained their growth for the 12th consecutive month.
Overall CV demand was up 10.7% in the UK, compared with August 2013, and up 12.8% over the first eight months of 2014 compared to last year.
Of the major markets, only Spain and Italy have managed to outperform the UK from January-August this year by 33.9% and 15.1% respectively. Germany posted steady figures of around 7.7% while the French market saw a decrease of 6.1% for the month.
An SMMT spokesperson said, “With around half of all UK-built commercial vehicles being exported, the country’s manufacturers rely on strong international market growth. It is encouraging to see the continued resurgence of a number of European commercial vehicle markets, including the UK, although there is clearly some way to go before pre-recession levels are realised.”
The light commercial vehicle market gave Europe a timely boost as it was the only sector to post a positive figure overall of 10.2% over August 2013. The UK had a buoyant month with a 22.3% increase in registrations, while Spain, Germany and Italy all posted increases by 19.3%, 13.4% and 11.5% respectively. Over the first eight months of 2014, the UK, Italy and Spain remain the only major EU nations with a large increase over the same period in 2013, at 19.1%, 16.9% and 35.2% respectively.
The heavy truck sector continued its decline in August, compared to the same month in 2013, by 6.1% as 13,005 truck registrations were made in total. Spain, Italy and Germany performed steadily in August, with increases of 0.8%, 3.8% and 2.4% respectively, while the UK saw the biggest decrease of all the major European nations, by 23.5% compared to August 2013.
Spain and Italy led the way in bus and coach registrations in August with 70.9%, and 27.9% more registrations compared with the same month last year. However, the UK, France and Germany registered decreases of 54%, 28.5% and 19.7% respectively.
