BUSINESS confidence across Europe is partly cited for an increase in sales of light commercial vehicles in Western Europe.

Year-to-date sales figures show a rose of more than 9% during the first half of the year. Latest figures show that sales reached 987,401 units during the period January to June, up from 904,620 units for the same period last year. For the month of June, figures produced by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) show that sales reached 181,837 units, up 15.4% against June last year.

A spokesman said: 'While calendar effects explain part of this growth, June 2004 had a higher number of working days in all countries except the UK, improvement in business investment confidence was another important factor accounting for the continuous rise in commercial vehicle registrations.'

Year-to-date CV registrations

Vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes
Country Jan-June 2004 Jan-June 2003 Variance
Austria 12,801 12,848 -0.4%
Belgium 32,152 29,580 8.7%
Denmark 20,504 15,193 35%
Finland 8,928 7,526 18.6%
France 214,603 198,664 8%
Germany 92,979 86,369 7.7%
Greece 11,452 8,875 29%
Ireland 20,546 22,604 -9.1%
Italy 113,784 108,060 5.3%
Luxembourg 1,465 2,166 -32.4%
Netherlands 490,216 44,470 10.7%
Portugal 36,699 34,397 6.7%
Spain 167,136 146,384 14.2%
Sweden 14,358 13,675 5%
UK 164,461 150,900 9%
European Union 961,084 881,711 9%
Iceland 705 518 36.1%
Norway 15,009 11,679 28.5%
Switzerland 10,603 10,712 -1%
Western Europe 987,401 904,620 9.2%