Electric van sales decline across EU

Electric vans are taking a declining share of a growing market for light commercial vehicles across Europe, according to statistics compiled by automotive industry body ACEA, while success in the German market has boosted the fortunes of electric trucks.

In the first half of 2024, new EU van sales increased by 15 per cent, reaching 840,409 units, driven by double-digit growth in key markets. Germany led with a remarkable 19.3 per cent rise, followed by Spain at 18.5 per cent, Italy at 17.8 per cent and France at 10.5 per cent. Diesel remained the preferred fuel choice for new vans. Sales of diesel vans rose by 16.2 per cent to 708,624 units, maintaining a stable 84.3 per cent market share.

Petrol models saw a significant increase of 15.3 per cent, accounting for a six per cent market share, which now exceeds that for battery electric vans which experienced a 3.7 per cent decline, giving a 5.8 per cent market share, down from 6.9 per cent last year.

Hybrid-electric van sales picked up slightly, with an 8.3 per cent increase, but still only make up 2.1 per cent of the market.

New EU truck registrations saw a more modest increase of three per cent, totalling 183,295 units from January to June. This growth was primarily driven by an 18.2 per cent rise in medium-truck sales, while heavy trucks remained stable with a 0.3 per cent increase. Spain and Italy led with double-digit gains of 21.7 and 10.5 per cent, respectively, while Germany (+8.1 per cent) and France (+5.5 per cent) also posted growth.

Diesel trucks continued to dominate the sector in the first half of 2024, representing 95.7 per cent of new EU registrations, a 2.6 per cent increase from the same period last year. Battery-electric trucks grew by a robust 51.6 per cent, increasing their market share to almost 1.9 per cent, up from 1.3 per cent per cent last year. Germany
led the electric expansion with a 113.9 per cent growth, contributing to 53 per cent of the EU’s electric truck sales.

Increases in both diesel and electric shares indicate gas trucks are being squeezed out of the market, perhaps as a long-term response to steep hikes in gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.