SALES of light commercial vehicles across Europe have been bolstered by strong performances in EU new member states.

Figures produced by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) also show that sales of vans in all main markets for the first two months of the year were better than the previous year, with increases ranging from 0.8% in the UK to 5.7% in Germany.

A spokesman added: ‘New member states strongly improved their results. Apart from the Hungarian market remaining flat, all of them posted two or three-digit growths.’

Sales figures

Country Jan-Feb 07 Jan-Feb 06 Variance
Austria 4,735 3,998 18.4%
Belgium 12,217 11,536 5.9%
Denmark 9,992 9,217 8.4%
Finland 3,236 2,961 9.3%
France 77,87 73,678 5.6%
Germany 29,796 28,200 5.7%
Greece 4,132 4,547 -9.1%
Ireland 15,662 13,177 18.9%
Italy 35,345 33,809 4.5%
Luxembourg 446 512 -12.9%
Netherlands 16,624 14,109 17.8%
Portugal 10,145 10,623 -4.5%
Spain 41,808 40,244 3.9%
Sweden 6,114 5,239 16.7%
UK 36,211 35,917 0.8%
EU15 304,270 287,767 5.7%
Iceland 348 371 -6.2%
Norway 6,327 6,088 3.9%
Switzerland 3,860 3,598 7.3%
EFTA 10,535 10,057 4.8%
Western Europe 314,805 297,824 5.7%
Czech Republic 8,169 6,453 26.6%
Estonia 737 501 47.1%
Hungary 2,937 2,943 -0.2%
Latvia 553 239 131.4%
Lithuania 614 539 13.9%
Poland 6,600 4,975 32.7%
Slovakia 2,901 2,228 30.2%
Slovenia 1,132 891 27.0%
EU (new members) 23,643 18,769 26.0%
European Union** 327,913 306,536 7.0%
Total Europe (EU+EFTA) 338,448 316,593 6.9%

** Figures for Malta and Cyprus not available