Trailer sales in Germany exceed 300,000 for first time
The German commercial vehicle market achieved a welcome result in 2017: new registrations rose by a good 3 percent to 369,100 units thus setting a new record. The large-volume van segment continued its growth and expanded for the fourth time in succession. Sale of light commercial vehicles up to 6 tonnes rose by over 4 percent in 2017 to reach 276,100 units which was also a new record. In 2018 the volume of the segment may well exceed even this result. The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) expects a rise of 2 percent.
VDA President Matthias Wissmann emphasized, “2017 was a good year for the German commercial vehicle market. On the one hand, the healthy state of the general economy boosted the demand for commercial vehicles. On the other, booming online business is driving sales of light commercial vehicles from one record to the next.”
The market for commercial vehicles over 6 tonnes slightly exceeded the high 2016 figure and produced its best result since 2008. A total of 86,300 heavy trucks were newly registered (+0.3 percent). In 2018 the market is again expected to show slender growth (+1 percent).
The demand for buses in 2017 showed a small rise over the previous year. In all, 6,700 buses were newly registered (+0.2 percent). This is the highest figure since 1993. In 2017 sales of trailers broke through the 300,000 mark for the first time. New registrations increased by more than 4 percent, totaling 306,900 trailers. Within this group growth was especially dynamic in the demand for semi-trailers, which added 6 percent and climbed to 36,400 units.
