The Italian truck market has seen further falls of 18.3% and 8.9%, respectively, with towed vehicles also dropping by 15.3% and 7% for consecutive months. However, buses have marked a crucial recovery, with an enormous 48.7% fall in October, followed by a healthy 12.7% increase for November, in figures released by the Associazione Nazionale Filiera Industria Automobilistica (ANIFA).
Raw Materials Crisis Continues to Wreak Havoc on Production in October
With gas price increases and production delays caused by the semiconductor shortage, confidence in the market has taken a dip. After September, where the market had a healthy bounce, the market saw a decline in semi-trailers, which started at the end of September. In September, there were 1,479 registrations for new trucks, an 18.3% decline, and 892 registration booklets for new heavy trailers (900, -15.7%) and semi-trailers (82, -21.4%). For the year-to-date figures, 20,527 trucks were registered by October, making for a 26.8% increase on 2020, while heavy and semi-trailers saw 12,432 new units – a 37% year-to-date increase. Trailers made up 1,170 (an increase of just under 30%), and semi-trailers made up 11,262, or 38% on the year-to-date figures.
Buses saw a sizeable thumping in terms of registrations. With 359 buses registered in October 2020, the 184 buses for October 2021 is close to a complete halving of the market. Figures remain more positive for the year-to-date, with 2,802 buses against 2,578 for January-October 2020, representing 8.7%.
Moving on to November, the figures continued to decline. With an extension yet to be approved by Budget Law for corporate capital goods and deliveries, the plan is to establish a tax credit for operation sustainability for liquified natural gas trucks.
For new trucks, there were 1,963 trucks, an 8.9% decline on November 2020. For heavy and semi-trailers there were 1,230 registrations, a 7% decline. Trailers at 109 registration related to 1.9%, while semi-trailers represented a 7.7% drop with 1,121 new units. Comparing October year-to-date sales with November’s, 13,647 new trucks were registered, representing a reduced – but still healthy -22.5% increase. Likewise, there were 13,647 heavy and semi-trailers, which constitutes a reduced but equally healthy 31.5% year-to-date increase on 2020. Trailers represent 1,278 sales (a 26.8% increase), while semi-trailers represent 12,369 sales, or a 32% increase.
In terms of regional distribution, the North-West and North-East were the big winners with 27.7% and 26.1% increases for truck registrations. The south of Italy scored third for registrations with 22.3%. Vehicles between 12-16 tons scored the biggest segment increase with 32.9%, with the 6-8 ton segment gaining 25.3%, whereas trucks between 3.5-5 tons scored a 19.4% decline.
Rigid trucks also scored a 22.5% increase in the first eleven months of 2021, with road tractors rounding the statistics with 22.6%.
Towed vehicles scored healthy increases across the regions, with a 57.3% North-East increase, 29.9% in Central Italy and 22.9% in the south of Italy.
Ending on autobuses, the market is getting into gear again. With 329 sales in November, that’s a healthy increase on 292 from the year before. Sales are holding tight for year-to-date sales, with 3,120 sales for the first eleven months this year, against 2,870 from the year before.
