New commercial vehicle registrations in Germany totaled 19,320 units in December 2009, a decline of nearly 18 percent from the figure recorded during the same month in the previous year. Full-year commercial vehicle sales in Germany fell 28 percent to 242,200 units. Sales of vans were down 24 percent last year, while new vehicle registrations in the heavy-duty truck class of 6 tons GVW and up declined by 38 percent.
In December new domestic orders for commercial vehicles increased for the second consecutive month. Domestic orders in the segment up to 6 tons GVW rose 14 percent, while those for commercial vehicles over 6 tons increased by 23 percent. "The positive development of new orders is an indication that the commercial vehicle market has probably bottomed out,” says Matthias Wissmann, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). "Nevertheless, the commercial vehicle sector will continue to face tremendous challenges in 2010.”
While commercial vehicle exports decreased by 19 percent overall in December 2009, there are signs that the export sector is also beginning to stabilize: Although exports declined 57 percent during full-year 2009, new orders from abroad were up by more than 36 percent in December and by more than 22 percent for the fourth quarter as a whole. "Although order levels are still very low, the new orders received toward the end of the year offer hope that exports will increase slightly over the next few months,” says Wissmann.
At 20,230 units, production volume at German commercial vehicle plants in December remained roughly the same as in December 2008. Production of commercial vehicles was cut back by more than half (52 percent) in full-year 2009, whereby the reduction was more severe in the segment for vehicles of 6 tons GVW and up (around two-thirds) than was the case in the segment for light trucks (-44 percent).