Automotive News Europe - May 2019 - 18

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

AUTOMAKERS

Ford's van family was led by the Transit Custom (left), which was Europe's top-selling small commercial vehicle. The
Transit (middle) was No. 3 in the medium commercial segment.

Regulation concern
Tougher emissions rules threaten to slow LCV growth in Europe
PETER SIGAL

psigal@autonews.com

uropean light-commercial vehicle
sales outgained the passenger car
market in 2018, buoyed by a healthy
economy and new launches. But the sector will face challenges this year, led by
uncertainties surrounding a September
1 deadline for emissions certification under the new Worldwide harmonized Light
vehicle Test Procedure, or WLTP.
Sales of light commercial vehicles (under
3.5 metric tons) increased by 3.5 percent
in the European Union and European Free
Trade Association countries, surpassing
the 2 million mark for the first time since
2007, according to industry association
ACEA. Several of Europe's biggest markets recorded healthy gains, including
Spain (+7.8 percent); Germany (+5.4 percent) and France (+4.6 percent). Those
gains offset a slight decrease in Britain
(-1.3 percent) and a larger drop in economically troubled Italy (-6 percent). JATO
Dynamics recorded similar figures, showing an increase of 2.5 percent in EU countries to total sales of 1.94 million units.
The van market is heavily influenced by
economic trends, especially in sectors
such as housing and retail. "The overall
economy was great in 2018, with all indicators green," said Julien Gamundi, sales
forecast analyst at IHS Markit who specializes in light-commercial vehicles. "It was
really a pull on sales." The medium and
small commercial segments are likely to

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continue to gain in 2019, while the car-derived van may have topped out, Gamundi
said. Medium commercial vans such as
the Ford Transit are the favored means of
"last mile" delivery with the growth of online commerce, he said. "There's a lot of
deliveries to be made and a lot of volume
to be carried in Western Europe," he said,
adding that demand for campers -- which
are normally converted by third parties -was also growing. Gamundi said the carderived van segment, which get its name
because the models are built on passenger-vehicle architectures -- has less room
for growth because it has been so highly
competitive in recent years.
Europe's best-selling brands last year
were Ford, which gained 6.9 percent for
a total of 321,334 sales to keep the No.

FORD NO. 1
Europe LCV by-brand sales leaders
2018; % change from 2017
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Ford
321,334
Renault
280,439
VW
233,600
Peugeot
212,551
Citroen
187,826
Mercedes
180,431
Fiat
142,902
Nissan
57,690
Opel/Vauxhall 56,921
Iveco
52,432

Source: JATO Dynamics

6.9%
1.1%
3.2%
2.8%
2.2%
1.3%
-4.6%
-8.7%
-8.4%
2.1%

1 spot, followed by Renault, up 1.1 percent to 280,439 sales, and Volkswagen,
at No. 3 with 233,600 sales, an increase
of 3.2 percent. However, by group, PSA
dominated with a 25 percent share of
the European market after integrating
Opel/Vauxhall into its portfolio in the
middle of 2017.
Hot-selling models last year included the
Peugeot Expert, Ford Transit, Citroen Jumpy
and Renault Master. By volume, the Transit
Custom held the top spot, with 120,285
units sold, followed by the Mercedes-Benz
Sprinter and Citroen Berlingo (see tables,
Page 19). Significant launches last year
included, toward the end of the year, PSA
Group's new family of car-derived vans,
the Peugeot Partner, Citroen Berlingo and
Opel/Vauxhall Combo. Other new entrants
included the third-generation Sprinter.
There are few all-new models expected
this year. Toyota has just announced the
Proace City, which will share parts with
PSA siblings from Peugeot, Citroen and
Opel/Vauxhall. The Proace City will give
Toyota a presence in a segment that
accounts for more than one-third of all
commercial vans in Europe. It's not Toyota's only collaboration with PSA Group
-- the Proace small commercial van was
introduced in 2016. "The Proace City will
give Toyota a more complete portfolio to
sell to fleet buyers," Gamundi said, adding that it would benefit PSA indirectly
with sales in some countries, such as
Scandinavia, where Toyota is strong.

MAY 2019

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Automotive News Europe - May 2019

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