THE majority of European countries noted increases in light commercial vehicle sales during 2004, latest figures show.

Only Ireland and Luxembourg saw falling sales and the biggest increase was experienced in Iceland, where sales increased by 47%.

A spokesman for the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, which produced the figures, said: 'Cumulative figures for 2004 showed a marked pick-up in the demand for light trucks. New LCV registrations increased by 9% in Western Europe, compared to 2003 (+8.7% for the EU15). All the main markets contributed positively to this result: Spain (+12.4%), the UK (+8.5%), France (+7%), Germany (+5.1%) and Italy (+3.3%).'

Country		Jan-Dec 04		Jan-Dec 03		Variance
Austria		28,885		26,253		10%
Belgium		56,601		49,351		14.7%
Denmark		44,865		1,986		40.3%
Finland		17,166		14,484		18.5%
France		407,622		380,918		7%
Germany		185,535		176,521		5.1%
Greece		22,494		17,681		27.2%
Ireland		30,107		30,495		-1.3%
Italy		221,108		213,944		3.3%
Luxembourg		2,670		3,431		-22.2%
Netherlands		86,788		77,009		12.7%
Portugal		71,283		69,060		3.2%
Spain		333,012		296,331		12.4%
Sweden		30,857		28,047		10%
UK		329,599		303,755		8.5%
European Union		1,868,592		1,719,266		8.7%
Iceland		1,629		1,108		47%
Norway		31,241		24,450		27.8%
Switzerland		21,374		20,002		6.9%
EFTA		54,244		45,560		19.1%
Western Europe		1,922,836		1,764,826		9%