By Gokhan Ergocun
ISTANBUL (AA) – The European Union commercial vehicles market rose 3.2 percent year-on-year in 2018, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) reported on Thursday.
During the last year, the number of new commercial vehicle registrations amounted to 2.5 million, the ACEA report said.
Spain, France and Germany showed the highest growth rates with 6.5 percent, 4.9 percent and 4.6 percent, the report noted.
Meanwhile, Italy and the U.K. posted declines in demand with 4.1 percent and 1.9 percent in 2018, the report added.
From January to December, the EU demand for vans — light commercial vehicles — soared by 3.1 percent to reach over 2 million new vehicle registrations.
The ACEA stated that the demand for new heavy trucks remained positive over the same period.
“Overall 305,811 [heavy commercial] new vehicles were registered across the EU during the year, or 3.1 percent more than in 2017, ” it said.
In 2018, nearly 42,000 medium/heavy buses and coaches were also registered in the EU, up 1.3 percent versus the previous year.
