The European market of trucks and buses reached a volume of 2.56 million units sold in 2018, representing an increase of 3.1% compared to the 2.49 million units that were registered in the previous year, according to data of the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA).

This annual improvement was a consequence, mainly, of the momentum in some of its large markets such as Spain (+ 6.5%), France (+ 4.9%) and Germany (+ 4.6%). On the other hand, truck and bus registrations fell in Italy (-4.1%) and the United Kingdom (-1.9%).

The Spanish market recorded the highest growth in the whole of 2018 among the top five in Europe. In total, 242,058 trucks and buses were registered in the national territory during the past year. However, in December, the deliveries of this type of vehicle in the whole of the European market stood at 205,128 units, which translates into a 4% drop with respect to the data for that month of 2017.

By segments, truck sales of up to 3.5 tons in 2018 were 2.13 million units, 3.1% more, and 174,248 units in December, 2.5% less, while 395,847 were sold. trucks between 3.5 and 16 tons last year, 3.5% more, and 26,989 units in the last month of 2018, 11.4% less.

In the whole of Europe, 314,427 trucks of more than 16 tons were registered in the annual calculation, 3.1% more, and 20,777 units in December, 12.7% less. On the other hand, sales of buses and coaches increased by 0.7% in 2018, with 43,808 units, but decreased by 14.3% in December, with 3,891 units.

THE NEWSPAPER – Brussels – Thursday, 01/24/2019 (Translation Soft)