All around the globe, European trucks, vans and busses are preferred for the transportation of goods and people. In 2017 the export of heavy-duty vehicles contributed a trade surplus of 4,9 billion euros. This article gives an insight in the growing European commercial vehicle market.
Commercial vehicles play a vital role in the European economy and society in general. Let’s kick off with some statistics from ACEA (the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association) to prove it.
- Trucks deliver 75% of all goods carried over land in Europe (18 Billion tonnes).
- 85% of all goods carried by trucks are transported over short distances of less than 150 km.
- 18% of all commercial vehicles made worldwide are manufactured in Europe (2.6 million units).
- About 90% of the value of all goods in Europe is transported by truck.
- Buses are a vital mode of transport, taking us 527 billion km/year.
The versatile landscape of European commercial vehicles
Commercial vehicles in Europe come in many shapes, sizes and applications, serving a wide range of purposes. Here is an overview of the most important commercial vehicle types:
- Mini-buses
- Articulated buses
- Urban delivery vans
- Container trucks
- Dumpers
- Crane trucks
- Pick-up trucks
- Car transporters
- Ambulances
- Fire Trucks
European vans, trucks and buses can be described as the most technologically-advanced, cleanest, safest and quietest in the world.
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Slight growth for European commercial vehicle market
To get an idea of the growth of the European commercial vehicle market, we should consider the registrations in the past period. The graph below shows the number of European registrations of:
- Medium Commercial Vehicles (MHCV)
- Heavy Commercial Vehicles (HCV)
- Medium/Heavy Buses & Coaches (MHBC)
This graph clearly shows that the majority (+ 70%) of the new European commercial vehicle registrations comes from the heavy commercial vehicles category. In 2017, this particular category grew 0,5% compared to the same time period the year before. Major markets saw mixed result. The biggest growth was seen in Italy (+8.4%) and France (+6.9%).
Good start in 2018
In the first five months of 2018 we saw 160.793 Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicle registrations, good for an increase of 3.5% compared to the same period in 2017. Italy (+15%), Spain (+9,2%) and France (+7,9%) signed up for the biggest growth, while UK (-8,6%) and Germany (-1,6%) saw a market decrease. Of all the MHCV registrations, 82% came from HCV.
