European heavy truck market collapses

The European market for heavy trucks like the Mercedes-Benz Actros plunged 57% in October unadjusted for one fewer working day, falling for the 18th month straight, data published on Wednesday showed.

The Brussels-based automotive industry association ACEA said in a statement that new registrations of heavy trucks dropped to just 11429 vehicles last month versus 26457 a year earlier.

This brought the cumulative tally through October to 145833 heavy trucks in the 25 EU member states plus the four states in the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) — a decline of 47,7%.

The data is somewhat backward looking however, since changes in new registrations typically lag those in new orders by a few months. Last year’s crisis that began with the collapse of Lehman was not reflected in ACEA statistics until the start of this year.

Although April 2008 marked the last time registrations of new heavy trucks rose, analysts have become more optimistic based on rising economic indicators, improving freight volumes and a tentative stabilisation in new truck bookings following months of steep declines.

Demand for trucks largely follows the trade patterns tied to the economic cycle, but are occasionally distorted from pre-buy effects associated with approaching stricter emissions standards like the EPA 10 due to take effect in the US market in January.

The European truck market is dominated by brands like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Renault, DAF, Iveco, Scania and MAN.

The number of new registrations for light commercial vehicles — mainly panel vans like the Opel Movano or Citroen Berlingo — fell by nearly 26% to 121743 vehicles last month.