Car: Commercial Car Sales Decreased

Commercial vehicle registrations in the EU fell by 12.3% in September 2021, as the lack of microchips negatively affected sales volumes in all segments and in all major EU markets.

Spain recorded the largest decline last month (‐26.7%), followed by Germany (‐18.2%), France (-16.1%) and Italy (‐10.4%).

However, in the nine months January – September 2021, the demand for new commercial vehicles in the European Union remained positive (+ 19.1%), reaching a total of 1.4 million units. Due to the low comparison base of 2020, each of the four major EU markets has recorded growth so far this year: Italy (+ 29.7%), France (+ 16.8%), Spain (+ 10.4%) and Germany (+ 8.5%).

In September, new truck registrations fell 13.6% across the EU to 118,903 units, marking the third consecutive month of decline. The overall result of the European market was affected by the performance of its four major markets, which fell in double digits: Spain (-29.8%), Germany (-17.8%), France (-16.6%) and Italy (-13.8%)).

In the first three quarters of 2021, light commercial vehicle sales in the EU continued to grow by 18.7%, to almost 1.2 million units, due to significant gains in the first half of the year. The four main markets reflect the same trend, with cumulative growth remaining on positive ground despite declines in recent months: Italy (+ 29.6%), France (+ 17.4%), Spain (+9, 8%) and Germany (+ 8.1%)).

After seven months of continuous growth, EU demand for heavy trucks slowed slightly in September (-1.8%). Only Italy (+ 19.4%) managed to grow among the major EU markets, while Spain (-12.2%), France (-10.8%) and Germany (-9.8%) ) all recorded a drop.

From January to September, almost 180,000 new heavy trucks were registered throughout the European Union, an increase of 28.4% compared to the same period in 2020. With the exception of Greece (-9.2%), all its markets The EU has grown so far in 2021, including the four main ones.

In September 2021, EU demand for new trucks shrank for the first time in eight months. Poland continued to perform well, rising 34.7% last month, as did Italy (+ 13.7%). However, the weak performance of the other key markets reduced the overall result of the region by 5.8% compared to September 2020.

So far this year, sales of new trucks have increased by 23.4%, accounting for 217,000 units across the region. All major markets recorded double-digit gains during this nine-month period: Italy (+ 32.6%), Spain (+ 16.7%), Germany (+ 11.1%) and France (+ 11.0%).

September registrations in the bus category decreased by 3.8% compared to last year, reaching a total of 2,377 units. Looking at the large EU markets, the results were mixed. Demand shrank sharply in France (-2.1%) and Germany (-26.3%), while Italy (+ 63.0%) and Spain (+ 53.3%) showed strong growth last month. .

Nine months after 2021, new bus sales across the EU increased by 5.3%, mainly due to last year ‘s low comparison base. France, the market leader in this category with 5,103 registered buses, has risen 18.4% so far this year, followed by Italy with similar growth (+ 18.2%). In contrast, demand in Spain (-6.3%) and Germany (-5.0%) decreased over the same period.