EU commercial vehicle market contracts sharply in H1 2025

The European Union’s commercial vehicle market faced a steep downturn in the first half of 2025, with new registrations falling across all major segments – vans, trucks, and buses – according to the latest figures released by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).

The declines reflect persistent economic headwinds and insufficient infrastructure to support the green transition, despite a modest rise in the adoption of electrically-chargeable vehicles.

Double-digit declines across segments

New van registrations in the EU dropped by 13.2% year-on-year, weighed down by sharp contractions in major markets. Germany, the bloc’s largest market, saw a 14.7% fall, followed by France (-12%) and Italy (-11.7%). In contrast, Spain bucked the trend, posting an 11.2% increase in new van registrations.

Truck sales fell even more sharply, down 15.4%, with 155,367 units registered in the first half. Heavy-truck registrations dropped by 14.5%, while medium-truck volumes plunged 20%. All key markets reported double-digit losses, including Germany (-27.5%), France (-18.8%), Spain (-13.6%), and Italy (-13.3%).

The bus segment, although less severely affected, still registered a 4.4% decrease in new registrations, totalling 18,123 units. Italy suffered the largest drop (-24.5%), followed by Spain (-10.7%), France (-8%) and Germany (-3.2%). Notably, Sweden and Belgium emerged as outliers, with surging growth of +222.4% and +76.7%, respectively.

Electrification gains ground but progress remains uneven

Despite the downturn, the electrification of the commercial vehicle sector showed signs of advancement, albeit at a pace still deemed too slow by industry observers.

Vans: Diesel remains dominant, accounting for 82% of registrations, down from 84.3% a year ago. Electrically-chargeable vans increased their market share to 9.5%, up from 5.8%, while hybrid vans grew modestly by 7.1% to reach a 2.6% share. Petrol van sales plummeted 29.8%.

Trucks: Diesel trucks continued to lead with a 93.6% market share, despite a 15.4% fall in volume. Electrically-chargeable trucks doubled their presence to 3.6%, up from 2.1%. The Netherlands was a standout, with registrations of electric trucks soaring 187.6%, now representing nearly a fifth of the EU total for this category.

Buses: Electrically-chargeable buses reached a 21.6% market share, up from 16.4% last year. Germany posted a remarkable 105.2% surge, while Belgium added 523 electric buses compared to just 110 in H1 2024. However, hybrid bus registrations slid 35.5%, and diesel buses declined 6.7%, capturing a reduced market share of 64.7%.

ACEA emphasized that while the shift toward electric commercial vehicles is gaining traction, progress is hampered by the lack of essential support infrastructure, such as charging stations suitable for heavy-duty use.