Market: Sales up with commercial vehicles
DONE A total of 44,573 new commercial vehicles were sold in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein in 2019. This is shown by the evaluation of auto-schweiz, the Association of Swiss Automobile Importers. This means that the commercial vehicle market in the two countries grew by 7.1 percent compared to the previous year. Camper vans and delivery vans were in particularly high demand, each closing at record [...]
This means that the commercial vehicle market in both countries grew by 7.1 percent compared with the previous year. Camper vans and delivery vans were in particularly high demand, each closing at record levels.
Heavy commercial vehicles largely maintained their high level of the previous two years.
Record sales of delivery vans
Even though the Swiss gross domestic product probably only grew by around one percentage point in 2019, the commercial vehicle market presented itself from a very growth-friendly side. Light transport vehicles, for example, which include delivery vans and other vehicles with a total weight of up to 3.5 tons, increased by 7.2 percent to 34,555 - a record figure for the Swiss and Liechtenstein markets.
Further high demand expected
For 2020 as a whole, auto-schweiz members expect demand for light commercial vehicles to remain high, with 32,000 new registrations. This is in line with the assessment of the federal government's expert group, which forecasts a moderate development of the Swiss economy for the current year. A possible impact of the introduction of the CO2 target value of 147 g/km, which will apply to 85 percent of new vans in 2020, is already included here.
Motorhomes roll strong trend
The enrollments of new passenger transport vehicles have developed even more positively. The increase of 14.1 percent to 5727 registrations is attributable to motor homes. With 4766 vehicles, these account for over 83 percent of the passenger transport vehicle segment.
In the other categories of minibuses, cars, buses and others, there were only slight changes in absolute terms. Never before have so many new passenger transport vehicles been registered in Switzerland and Liechtenstein in a single year. Since 2014, annual new registrations of motorhomes have increased by 76.6 percent. The extent to which the camping boom will continue in 2020 remains to be seen.
Slight minus for heavy trucks
The smallest segment of commercial vehicles, which belongs to heavy material transport vehicles over 3.5 tons gross weight, ended 2019 with a slight decrease of 2.2 percent, with 4291 enrollments. Still a remarkable result considering the volatility and unpredictability of this particular market.
The slight decline can be absorbed in view of the continued high level of the market. Even the record year of 2017, when 4586 heavy commercial vehicles were registered, is only 6.4 percent short.
Modernization of the vehicle fleets
auto-schweiz media spokesman Christoph Wolnik on developments in the commercial vehicle market: "Swiss companies invested a great deal in modernizing their vehicle fleets last year. In the end, it's not only the economy that benefits from more efficient and cleaner engine technology, but also the environment."
