The automotive industry has been struggling with a shortage of microchips for quite some time. European commercial vehicle sales will also be affected as a result. Sales of new commercial vehicles in the European Union, including vans, trucks and buses, started a sharp decline in July and August compared to the same months last year.
After a significant increase in June European sales of new commercial vehicles have now entered a dip again. According to industry association ACEA, total sales in July fell to 148,178 units, down 11.9 percent from July 2020. In August, that number was even lower at 119,525 units, but was down 5.4 percent from July. of the same month in 2020, relatively speaking, less strong. In the Netherlands, sales of new commercial vehicles increased very slightly in July by 0.2 percent to 5,866 units, but in August that number fell again by more than 17 percent to 4,617 commercial vehicles.
It is the first time this year that ACEA has recorded a decline in sales of new commercial vehicles for two months in a row. Due to the economic recovery from the corona crisis, sales continued to increase until July, but now the chip shortage is throwing a spanner in the works. In particular, fewer delivery vans were sold, while trucks and buses actually outperformed the same period last year.
However, there is also a bright spot: despite the weak summer months, a total of almost 1.3 million new commercial vehicles were sold in the European Union in the first eight months of the year. Compared to the same period in 2020, this is almost a quarter more. Sales rose the most in Italy and France, the least in Spain and Germany.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl