Truck registrations in selected European countries 2020

Germany was the leading European market for commercial vehicle sales in 2020. That year, customers in Germany purchased almost 75,000 medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, down from almost 100,000 units in 2019.

A European Union-wide trend

This decline in registrations can be observed in all major European markets, but Germany and the United Kingdom suffered the sharpest drop in volume terms between 2019 and 2020. Freight forwarders in the United Kingdom face a time of uncertainty in light of the country's departure from the European Union. In the UK, registrations slumped by 33.6 percent, significantly above the European average. Between 2019 and 2020, the European Union has seen an average decrease in the number of new registrations for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles of 25.7 percent, dipping from around 333,000 units to about 247,500 units.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic in a global context

One of the main factors for the reduction in registrations links back to the coronavirus pandemic which swept up the world in 2020. Demand for motor vehicles dropped amid national restrictions in place and a looming recession. This is paired with an attempt from companies and private users to limit their costs and travels.