European Truck Market to Fall 20.7% in 2009

Europe’s heavy truck market is predicted to slow 20.7 per cent to 255,800 units in 2009 according to some forecasts. According to Automotive World’s research 2009 will prove to be “the worst for truck sales in recent history.” No return to the almost 350,000-unit market witnessed in 2007 is seen on the forecast horizon that extends to 2013. The report also warns that the positive impact on sales derived from a boom in Eastern Europe is now on the wane and that the 2004 EU accession countries “now appear to have entered a replacement rather than a growth cycle.”