EU commercial vehicle registrations plunge 6.6% in September

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - New commercial vehicle registrations in the EU fell for the 15th consecutive month in September, down 6.6% compared to last year, according to the latest figures released on Wednesday.

A total of 133,873 units were sold last month across the 27-member bloc, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) showed.

A strong rebound in truck registrations was not enough to offset the negative performance in the van segment.

The EU's demand for vans – light commercial vehicles – declined 11.3% year-on-year to 105,790 in September, while for medium and heavy trucks demand grew 18.3% to 25,720 units.

Except for Spain (up 0.1%), all major markets in the EU saw annual decreases last month as France saw a yearly decline of 11%, followed by Italy at 10.7% and Germany at 3.1%.

In January-September, sales of new commercial vehicles in the EU dropped 17.6%, totaling at 1.2 million units, the ACEA said.

Spain saw the steepest fall of 23% in the nine-month period among the region's four major markets.