Visteon Corporation (VC)

[1jk1]

UPDATE 2-European truck sales accelerate in August
3:50 am ET 09/24/2010- Reuters
* Commercial vehicle sales up 10.1 pct in August

* Heavy truck sales up 34 pct in August

* LCVs, trucks and heavy trucks all see increases

* Bus and coach sales fall in August

* January-August commercial vehicle sales rise 5 pct


(Adds background, context)

PARIS, Sept 24 (Reuters) - European commercial vehicle sales rose 10 percent in August, reflecting ongoing signs of economic recovery in the region even as truckmakers set their sights on stronger growth in emerging markets.

August's gain -- nearly double July's rise -- brought growth in European Union registrations to 5 percent in January through August, industry association ACEA said on Friday.

But compared to pre-crisis levels of 2008 sales in the first eight months were still down 35 percent.

Commercial vehicle sales in Europe fell more than 30 percent last year as the credit squeeze prevented businesses from renewing their fleets and the global economic downturn stifled demand for transporting goods.

Truckmakers also missed out on the scrappage schemes that boosted sales for their carmaking counterparts.

Demand for trucks has been gradually improving in recent months in European markets as businesses emerging from the crisis replace ageing fleets. Europe's recovery is far from assured, however.

Growth rates in the euro zone's services and manufacturing sectors slowed more than forecast this month as firms hired fewer new workers, offering fresh signs the region's economic recovery is losing momentum. <ReutersLink ID='ID:nLDE68M0GG' />

Truckmakers are increasingly counting on fast-growing emerging markets to swell their order books.

Daimler AG <DAIGn.DE>, the world's biggest truckmaker, said this week vehicle orders surged 65 percent in the first eight months of the year thanks to explosive demand in China, Indonesia and Latin America. <ReutersLink ID='ID:nLDE68K1YC' />

German truckmaker MAN <MANG.DE> also said it expected to beat a "conservative" 2010 profitability target thanks to record deliveries. <ReutersLink ID='ID:nLDE68K0Q2' />

In January to August, just under 1.13 million commercial vehicles of all categories were registered across the EU, 4.9 percent more than in the same period a year earlier.

Light commercial vehicle sales -- which include small delivery vans like PSA Peugeot Citroen's <PEUP.PA> Jumpy and bigger vans like Opel's [GM.UL] Movano, Renault's <RENA.PA> Master and Ford's <F.N> Transit -- rose 8.5 percent across the EU last month, with growth in major markets like France, Italy, and Germany but a fall in Spain, ACEA said.

Sales showed a 7.7 percent increase in the year to date.

New heavy truck sales rose 34 percent in August. The heavy truck market was down 9.1 percent eight months into the year.

Sales of trucks over 3.5 tonnes fell 7.4 percent over the first eight months but saw increases in the summer months -- August increased 23.7 percent.

Bus and coach sales fell 12.4 percent in August. (Reporting by Helen Massy-Beresford; Editing by Mike Nesbit and Michael Shields)
glta