BIL Sweden Rolls Out August Registration Figures for the Swedish Truck and Bus Sector
BIL Sweden, the Swedish Association for Manufacturers and Importers of Cars, Trucks and Buses published its monthly registration figures for the market with year-to-date figures continuing to perform strongly across the truck sector for both light and heavy trucks, contrasting significantly to the struggling bus sector.
HCV Sales 14% Up on August 2020 Figures and Show 14% Increase in Year-to-Date Numbers
The sales of light commercial vehicles, vehicles under 3.5 tonnes in Sweden has been one that has fluctuated significantly according to the association with 8,700 LCVs registered in April 2021 alone. As for August 2021, the association has reported 2,631 LCVs being registered, which has decreased to the tune of 8.7% compared with the same month last year. The same month in 2020 was 51% in arrears against 2019, underlining the significant impact of the pandemic. Although, the year-on-year figures suggest a downturn in fortunes for the LCV segment, the number of light trucks has increased by 51% compared to 2020, so far with 25,655 units registered against 16,996 in 2020. The Vice CEO of BIL Sweden, Jessica Alenius attributes the rise due to the continued strong economic recovery in Sweden and the necessity for companies to renew their fleets.
Sales of electric light trucks are still contributing to the Swedish commercial vehicle park with 7% of LCVs registered in August being electric and 5% over 2021 so far. Alenius said, “As was the case in July, the introduction of new models and the bonus increase in the Bonus malus system can be seen as an explanation for the rise in electric LCV purchases.”
Heavy commercial vehicles weighing over 16 tonnes reported a jump of almost 14% in August against 2020’s performance with 370 units registered against 325. The year-to-date picture continues to look bright with that is also approximately 14% ahead at the same point of the year.
The picture is not bright in the bus sector as bus registrations decreased almost 65% in contrast to August 2020, as only 37 buses were sold during the month. The situation is marginally better when looking at the year-to-date analysis with 488 buses registered representing a drop of almost 49%, but the situation is still pretty dismal and in line with much of Europe. The European bus sector has been decimated by the pandemic with significantly lower numbers of tourism and more people working from home.