The UK heavy truck market outperformed European rivals in April, according to ACEA (the European Automobile Manufacturers Association).
The UK heavy truck market outperformed European rivals in April, according to ACEA (the European Automobile Manufacturers Association).
The UK lagged behind other European countries in the first quarter of the year, but against a backdrop of overall decline in European registrations in April it saw growth in both the medium (3.5-tonnes up) and heavy (16-tonnes up) segment of the market while others faltered.
Overall registrations for HGVs 16-tonnes and up fell 9.9% to 24,096 (2016: 26,756), with most European markets taking a hit.
While Spain’s registrations were down more than a quarter (25.8%) at 1,189 (2016: 1,602), and Germany saw a decline of 20.2% to 5,374 (2016: 6,734), the UK saw a 11% increase in registrations to 3,191 (2,874).
The UK also saw registrations for vehicles over 3.5-tonnes up 9.2% to 4,245 (2016: 3,888) while other than Italy most European countries saw falls, with Germany down 16.7% to 7,715 (2016: 9,267) for example.
The exception was in the light commercial segment, where the UK experienced a 18.8% fall in April registrations to 22,265 (27,880) in a segment that was 7% up overall at 148,185 units.
ACEA laid the blame for some of the fall in the timing of Easter, which fell in the month and skewed registrations somewhat. It added that for the first four months of the year the European market remains 3.8% ahead of 2016.
The latest figures from the SMMT showed demand for HGVs in the UK had been broadly stable year-on-year at just more than 10,000 units.