LIGHT commercial vehicle sales across Europe are up by more than 8% for the year. Latest figures for the year to date show that registrations in all of the main European markets posted year-on-year increases, ranging from 3.8% in Germany to 12.8% in Spain. Figures for the month of September show an increase of 7.4% compared to the same month the previous year to 169,828.

With the exception of Germany (-2.3%), sales in September increased in all the main markets. They were up in Italy (+1.0%), France (+1.7%), the UK (+9.5%) and Spain (+15.9%). The situation in the other markets was also generally positive with registration growth ranging from 1.0% in Sweden to 3.4% in Greece.

A spokesman for the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA), which produced the figures, said: 'Cumulative figures for the January to September period are up by 8.5% in Western Europe compared to the same period last year.'

Sales up to 3.5 tonnes

Country		Jan-Sep 04		Jan-Sep 03		variance
Austria		19,749		18,965		4.1%
Belgium		44,140		39,884		10.7%
Denmark		31,564		22,404		40.9%
Finland		13,064		10,926		19.6%
France		301,384		283,163		6.4%
Germany		136,746		131,739		3.8%
Greece		16,832		13,027		29.2%
Ireland		26,944		27,319		-1.4%
Italy		158,758		152,246		4.3%
Luxembourg		2,042		2,869		-28.8%
Netherlands		69,761		62,519		11.6%
Portugal		52,362		49,785		5.2%
Spain		243,591		215,856		12.8%
Sweden		21,543		20,061		7.4%
United Kingdom		249,533		231,827		7.6%
European Union		1,388,013		1,282,590		8.2%
Iceland		1,081		830		30.2%
Norway		22,592		17,356		30.2%
Switzerland		16,384		15,550		5.4%
Western Europe		1,428,070		1,316,326		8.5%