Commercial vehicle registrations: -16.8% ten months into 2022; -8.9% in October

Total new commercial vehicles

In October 2022, the EU market for new commercial vehicles continued to struggle, declining for the sixteenth month in a row (-8.9%). This was due to the drop in new van registrations, which account for the vast majority of total commercial vehicle sales. By contrast, the truck and bus segments performed better than in October 2021. Looking at the region’s four largest markets, Germany saw the sharpest decline in total commercial vehicle sales (-12.4%), followed by France and Italy with more modest losses (-5.3% and -3.9% respectively). Spain, on the other hand, managed to post a slight increase (+1.2%).

Ten months into the year, registrations of new commercial vehicles across the European Union contracted by 16.8% to 1.3 million units. The region’s overall performance was dampened by the weak results of its four key markets, all facing double-digit declines: Spain (-20.9%), France (-19.1%), Germany (-15.4%) and Italy (-10.4%).

New light commercial vehicles (LCV) up to 3.5t

In October, new light commercial vehicle registrations in the EU fell by 14.4%, totalling 102,226 units. All the major EU markets posted declines last month, especially Germany (-16.6%), Italy (-7.3%) and France (-6.7%), while new van sales remained relatively stable in Spain (-0.5%).

From January to October 2022, EU light commercial vehicle registrations were down by 20.6%, to 1 million units. Apart from Cyprus (+1.6%) and Slovakia (+0.1%), all the EU markets contributed to the overall decline, including the four largest ones, which all faced double-digit losses: Spain (-25.5%), France (-21.1%), Germany (-18.7%) and Italy (-11.9%).

New heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) of 16t and over

Last month, European Union heavy commercial vehicle registrations showed accelerated growth, with a 18.0% increase to 23,592 units. The four key markets in Western Europe all contributed positively to the region’s growth, with Italy recording the strongest gain (+33.7%), followed by France (+7.6%), Spain (+7.3%) and Germany (+1.2%).

So far this year, 211,649 new heavy trucks were registered across the EU, up 5.9% compared to the same period in 2021. With the exception of Germany (-0.6%), all the largest markets in Western Europe posted growth: Spain (+10.6%), Italy (+3.0%) and France (+2.9%).

New medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV) over 3.5t

October registrations of new medium and heavy trucks increased by 16.0% across the European Union. Most markets in the region recorded double-digit gains, including Poland (+24.7%) – which is the third largest EU market for trucks – and Italy (+28.5%). The other major markets saw more modest but still solid increases: Spain (+7.3), France (+3.9%) and Germany (+3.5%).

Ten months into 2022, the EU market for medium and heavy commercial vehicles grew by 2.7%, counting 247,253 units sold. The four key markets in Western Europe posted mixed results. Germany and France faced declines, down by 3.7% and 0.8% respectively. On the other hand, Spain managed to post growth (+9.9%), followed by Italy with a more modest 0.8% increase.

New medium and heavy buses & coaches (MHBC) over 3.5t

In October 2022, EU registrations of new buses and coaches posted strong growth (+24.4%), after four consecutive months of decline. Central European countries provided a strong boost to this overall increase (+87.1%). Looking at the four major markets, only Germany performed worse than one year ago (-27.7%). By contrast, Spain recorded a double-digit gain (+25.9%), followed by Italy (+6.9%) and France (+5.6%) with more modest but still solid results.

From January to October, the EU market for new buses and coaches contracted by 2.4% to 22,832 units, despite last month’s strong rebound. With the exception of Spain (+29.0%), all the region’s key markets posted significant declines: Germany (-23.0%), France (-13.3%) and Italy (-8.4%).

Ten months into the year, registrations of new commercial vehicles across the European Union contracted by 16.8% to 1.3 million units.