Sales of new commercial vehicles in the European Union almost tripled last month from a year ago. The huge increase has everything to do with the outbreak of the corona crisis. As a result, sales were very low in April last year.
According to the European automotive industry organization ACEA, a total of 171,283 vans, trucks and buses were registered. In April last year it was still 61,347 vehicles. Like many other sectors, the auto industry suffered badly from the corona crisis last year. Due to economic uncertainty, the demand for vehicles fell sharply.
It was the second month in a row last month that this corona effect is so influencing the numbers. In March sales almost doubled compared to the same month last year.
ACEA noted a significant sales spurt in almost all countries. Ireland even showed a plus of more than 700 percent. In the Netherlands, more company cars were also sold with 7,650 units. Compared to the same month last year, this was an increase of 60 percent.
First four months
Considering the first four months of this year, it is not entirely surprising that there has been more modest growth compared to those months last year: 42.1 percent. To date, 673,179 commercial vehicles have been sold in the EU this year. A number of important markets record above-average growth: Italy 75.1 percent, France 62.9 percent and Spain 43.8 percent. In the Netherlands, this is a growth of 15.3 percent.