Euro commercial vehicle sales surge in September

The European Automobile Manufacturer's Association (ACEA) reports that total commercial vehicle registrations across the European Union were up 13.3 per cent in September, compared to the same month in 2019. However, the surging sales have come from one market segment in particular – vans – with these LCVs accounting for 84% of all new commercial vehicle registrations.

The strong demand for last-mile delivery helped push new registrations of all new commercial vehicles to 163,512 units in September, but the year-to-date tally of 1,206,259 units is still 24.5% down when compared to the previous corresponding period.

But all of the top four individual markets recorded growth in September, with new commercial vehicle registrations in Italy up 17.8%, in Germany by 16.6%, in France by 15.1%, and in Spain by 6.6%.

However, the year-to-date figures for those countries are far less rosy thanks to the impact of COVID-19. The Italian new commercial vehicle market is down by 21.7% year to date, Germany is down by 21.4%, France is down by 21.6% and Spain is down by 33.0%.

In comparison, the new commercial vehicle market in Australia is in a far better position – our year-to-date sales of new trucks and LCVs are down by 13.1% to the end of September.

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In new light commercial vehicles up to a GVM of 3500kg, a total of 137,735 vehicles were registered in September 2020, which is growth of 15.7% over the same month last year (and the first month this year in which the segment has expanded). Year to date, Europe's LCV segment has contracted by 22.8%.

In medium and heavy commercial vehicles with a GVM of over 3500kg, growth of 2.7% was posted for September, compared to the same month last year, with Italy posting impressive growth of 34.4%. Over the first nine months of 2020, however, new registrations in this segment have contracted by 32.6% across the EU, with the worst affected of the major nations being Germany (down 30.6%).

As is also the case here in Australia, the biggest falls have been recorded at the heaviest end of the commercial vehicle spectrum. Registrations of new heavy commercial vehicle with a GVM of 16,000kg and up fell by 1.7% for the month of September compared to the same month last year, but the year-to-date figure is far more dire – the 140,159 new heavy-duty trucks registered over the first nine months of 2020 represent a drop of 34.9% compared to the same period in 2019.

And registrations of new medium and heavy buses and coaches fell by 4.5% in September, to bring the year-to-date tally to 20,426 units. That's a decline of 26.5%.

It's been a tough year for Europe's new commercial vehicle market in 2020. And with COVID-19 infections spiking once more as the continent heads towards winter, it seems the disruption is far from over.