New registrations of commercial vehicles and buses in Germany rose by 6 percent to 409,800 units in 2019. This is the fourth year in succession that the commercial vehicle market has reached a record level. The international manufacturers achieved a stable market share of around 29 percent.
Reinhard Zirpel, President of the Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (VDIK), stressed: “In 2019, more than 400,000 commercial vehicles were registered in Germany for the first time ever. The demand for light vans in particular continues to be strongly driven by the dynamics of parcel and courier services. The CEP sector is one of the fastest growing economic sectors in this country”.
New registrations of light commercial vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes increased particularly strongly: by 7 percent to 305,000 units. Sales of heavy commercial vehicles over 16 tonnes grew by 2 percent to just under 68,000 vehicles. New registrations of commercial vehicles with a gross vehicle weight between 3.5 and 16 tonnes rose by 10 percent to over 30,000 units. In addition, 6,400 buses were newly registered, 4 percent less than in the previous year.
93 percent of the new commercial vehicles and buses were delivered with diesel engines. Gasoline engines accounted for 4 percent, alternative drive systems for 3 percent. These included 7,500 commercial vehicles with electric drive (BEV or PHEV) and 3,500 new vehicles with gas drive (CNG, LPG and LNG).
Commenting on the market forecast for 2020, Zirpel said: “Commercial vehicle demand will not reach the 2019 record level in the new year. Overall, we expect the market to contract by 375,000 units. This will nevertheless be the third highest level since reunification and thus a good result”.
