EU commercial vehicle market grows 5.1% in Q1

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The EU market for commercial vehicles recorded an annual growth of 5.1% during the first quarter of 2019 the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) reported on Thursday.

The association said the number of new commercial vehicle registrations amounted to 654,657 in January-March period.

Among key markets, Germany (12.8%), the U.K. (8.9%), France (4.4%) and Spain (3.1%) recorded an increase in demand for commercial vehicles.

Meanwhile, commercial vehicle registrations dropped 0.5% in Italy.

Demand for vans -- light commercial vehicles -- grew by 5% to reach 544,085 new registrations in the bloc during the same period.

On the heavy commercial vehicles side, EU demand increased 5.5% to 82,993 new trucks in the same period.

Over the same period, more than 100,708 new medium/heavy commercial vehicles were registered in the EU, marking an annual increase of 5.7%.

"Three months into the year, registrations of new buses and coaches increased only slightly (+0.4%)," the ACEA added.

Last year, the number of new commercial vehicle registrations amounted to 2.5 million in the 28-member bloc.