New commercial vehicle registrations in Europe declined by 37.4 per cent in the first eight months of 2009 on a year-on-year basis, it was confirmed yesterday (24th September).

ACEA, the European automobile manufacturers' association, confirmed that sales have now fallen for 16 straight months after a 33.7 per cent drop in July and a 35.1 per cent fall in August.

According to the figures, the heavy commercial vehicle sector has been worst affected so far this year, having recorded 47.9 per cent less sales between January and August than in 2008.

The new European Union member states were hit badly, with major declines being incurred in the Czech Republic (61.2 per cent), Poland (69 per cent) and Romania (73.5 per cent).

Meanwhile, the ACEA also confirmed that registrations of trucks declined by 43.7 per cent on an annual basis over the eight-month period, with all markets suffering a downturn.

Of the major markets, Germany saw a decline of 34.7 per cent, France recorded a 34.1 per cent drop, the UK noted a 41.2 per cent fall, Italy was hit with a 43.2 per cent slump and Spain had a 69.7 per cent decrease.

The new light commercial vehicles sector (vans) was not ravaged quite so badly, but yet again, positive growth was nowhere to be seen in any of the European markets.

January-to-August sales plummeted by 36.5 per cent, with France (23.6 per cent), Germany (26.8 per cent), the UK (44.1 per cent) and Italy (28 per cent) all suffering.

In addition, the figures revealed that there were major declines witnessed by Spain (46.3 per cent), Poland (26.6 per cent) and the Czech Republic (63.7 per cent).

Finally, ACEA confirmed that sales of new buses and coaches over 3.5 tonnes fell by 16.7 per cent during the eight months, but there were a number of encouraging figures.

The sector increased by 6.1 per cent in July and 0.2 per cent in August, with the French market enjoying rises of 63.3 per cent and 22.6 per cent respectively in each month.

France managed to record a nine per cent gain between January and August, but the biggest market was the UK, despite the fact that it suffered a 12.4 per cent drop in that period.

Source:

COMMERCIAL VEHICLES: Registrations down 37.4% eight months into 2009 (24/09/09)

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