New commercial vehicle registrations: vans +12.6%, trucks -4%, buses +23.3% in Q1 2024

There were mixed results for the EU commercial vehicle market in Q1 2024. While van sales rose, truck sales dipped slightly, despite growth in the electrically chargeable truck market. Bus sales saw a rise, with electrically chargeable buses recording notable gains.

In the first quarter of 2024, new EU van sales rose by 12.6%, with nearly 400,000 units sold on the back of strong results in key markets. Italy led with a remarkable 19.4% growth, followed by Germany at 12.7%, Spain at 10.9%, and France at 8.7%.

In contrast, new EU truck registrations fell by 4% to 85,296 units. This was mainly due to a 5.4% decrease in heavy-truck sales and despite a 5% growth in medium trucks. Germany and France reported slight decreases of 2.2% and 0.3%, respectively. Spain and Italy defied the trend with robust gains of 15.7% and 6.6%, respectively.

Bus sales also had a positive start to the year, with new EU registrations surging by 23.3% compared to the first quarter of 2023, totalling 9,624 units. While sales dropped by 16.8% in France, three major markets grew substantially: Germany (+20%), Italy (+18.3%), and Spain (+7.6%).

New commercial vehicles by power source

Vans

Diesel was the preferred choice for new vans in the EU in the first quarter of 2024. Sales rose by 12.2% to 336,698 units, holding a stable 84.2% market share (a slight dip from 84.5% in Q1 2023). Petrol models increased by a significant 18.8%, accounting for 6.1% share. Electrically chargeable vans experienced a more modest 4.2% growth, capturing a 5.8% market share, a slight decrease from 6.2% last year. Hybrid van sales are gradually gaining pace, with a 12.6% growth, while only accounting for 2.2% share of the market.

Trucks

Diesel maintained its dominance in the truck market in the first quarter of 2024. Diesel trucks accounted for 95.5% of new EU registrations, despite a 4.5% drop compared to the previous year. Electrically chargeable trucks grew by a robust 29.5%, securing almost 2% of the market share, up from 1.4% last year. Germany led this expansion with a 173.7% growth, contributing to 56% of the EU's electrically chargeable truck sales.

Buses

New EU electrically chargeable bus registrations rose by 10.3% in the first quarter of 2024. However, the market share decreased slightly from last year's 13.7% to 12.3%. Germany, the largest market by volume, grew by 20.7%. Romania's market increased by a sizeable 149.2%, making it the second-largest market for electrically chargeable buses. France, previously the largest market, saw its electrically chargeable bus sales more than halve with a 66.4% decrease. Meanwhile, hybrid-electric bus sales experienced a marginal decline of 1.9%, and now make up 10.9% of the market. Diesel bus registrations grew by a robust 38.8% and now represent a 70.7% market share, an increase from the previous year's 62.8%.

About ACEA

• The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) is the Brussels-based trade association of the 15 major car, van, truck and bus producers in Europe
• The ACEA commercial vehicle members are DAF Trucks, Daimler Truck, Ford Trucks, Iveco Group, MAN Truck & Bus, Scania, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, and Volvo Group
• Visit www.acea.auto for more information about ACEA, and follow us on www.twitter.com/ACEA_auto or www.linkedin.com/company/ACEA/
• Contact: Francesca Piazza, Senior Statistics Manager, [email protected]

About the EU automobile industry

• 12.9 million Europeans work in the automotive sector
• 8.3% of all manufacturing jobs in the EU
• €392.2 billion in tax revenue for European governments
• €101.9 billion trade surplus for the European Union
• Over 7% of EU GDP generated by the auto industry
• €59.1 billion in R&D spending annually, 31% of EU total