The first quarter of 2025 was difficult for the EU’s commercial vehicle market, with major declines across key regions. Contributing factors included weak economic growth, reduced order volumes from previous periods, and a complex regulatory environment, all of which fueled business uncertainty.
In the first quarter of 2025, new van sales across the EU dropped by 12.2%, with the downturn largely driven by its three biggest markets. Italy saw the largest decrease at 15.2%, followed by France and Germany, both down by 10.7%. In contrast, Spain bucked the trend, registering a 12.6% increase.
EU truck registrations also saw a significant decline of 16%, amounting to 72,941 units. This was primarily due to a 16.6% fall in heavy-truck sales and a 12.5% decrease in medium-truck registrations. All major markets experienced losses, with Germany and France seeing steep double-digit drops of 25.4% and 17.6%, respectively. Spain and Italy also recorded notable declines of 12.8% and 9.4%.
Bus sales across the EU slipped by 1.8% year-on-year, reaching a total of 8,674 units. Among key markets, Germany posted a sharp 15% drop, followed by Italy at 7.3% and Spain at 0.5%. France saw a modest increase of 0.1%, while smaller markets like Sweden and Greece recorded substantial growth of 189.9% and 187.6%, respectively.
New commercial vehicles by power source
Vans
Diesel remained the most popular fuel type for new vans in the EU during Q1 2025, though sales fell by 14% to 290,870 units, reducing its market share to 82.5%, down from 84.2% in the same period last year. Petrol van sales declined more sharply by 25.8%, representing just 5.2% of the market. Meanwhile, demand for electrically-chargeable vans increased by 32.6%, boosting their market share from 5.7% to 8.7%. Hybrid vans saw a modest growth of 0.7%, accounting for 2.5% of total sales.
Trucks
Diesel continued to dominate the EU truck market in Q1 2025, making up 93.4% of new registrations, despite a 17.7% year-on-year decrease in volume. Electrically-chargeable trucks showed strong momentum, rising by 50.6% and achieving a 3.5% market share, up from 2% a year earlier. The Netherlands played a key role in this growth, with a remarkable 342.7% increase, contributing a quarter of the EU’s electric truck registrations.
Buses
Electrically-chargeable bus registrations in the EU rose sharply by 50.3% in Q1 2025, pushing their market share up from 13% to 19.9%. Germany led this surge with a 118.9% increase in volumes, while Sweden emerged as the second-largest market, registering 237 electric buses compared to just 9 a year earlier. In contrast, hybrid-electric bus sales fell by 28.7%, capturing 10.7% of the market. Diesel-powered buses also declined by 5.6%, with their market share shrinking from 68.5% to 65.9%.
