Truck market: UK registrations rise, but heavy trucks slump as medium segment surges
Europe's commercial vehicle market is bouncing back after a weak 2025. According to the latest ACEA figures, 171,933 new trucks (medium and heavy segments, over 3.5 tonnes) were registered across the EU in the first half of 2026 — up 9.8% year-on-year. The UK, which sits outside the EU but is tracked separately by ACEA alongside the EU and EFTA, posted solid overall growth too — though the numbers hide a striking split between its heavy and medium truck segments.
The UK market: growth on paper, a split underneath In the first half of 2026, 26,436 new trucks were registered in the UK, up from 24,665 a year earlier — a rise of 7.2%, broadly in line with the wider European trend, if slightly below the EU average of 9.8%.
Break the total down by segment, though, and a very different picture emerges:
Heavy trucks (over 16 tonnes): 16,667 units, down from 18,156 — a fall of 8.2%. This is one of the sharpest declines in the heavy segment among all the major markets ACEA tracks. Medium trucks (3.5-16 tonnes): 9,769 units, up from 6,509 — a jump of 50.1%. In other words, the UK’s overall growth figure masks a market moving in two opposite directions at once: a shrinking heavy-truck fleet renewal, offset by a sharp acceleration in medium-truck demand, likely tied to urban and regional distribution rather than long-haul.
The UK against the rest of Europe It’s worth noting the UK isn’t an EU member and its figures sit alongside — not inside — the EU total. Still, comparing volumes and growth rates puts the UK’s performance in context against the EU’s largest markets:
At 26,436 units, the UK would rank as the EU’s second-largest truck market by volume — ahead of France and Poland — if it were counted within the bloc’s total. Its growth rate (+7.2%) sits almost exactly alongside Germany’s (+7.1%), comfortably ahead of France’s near-standstill (+0.2%) and Italy’s modest gain (+4.0%), but well behind the two fastest-growing EU markets, the Netherlands (+47.5%) and Poland (+25.9%).
The UK’s heavy-truck decline stands out as unusual, though: most large European markets — Germany, Poland, Spain, Italy — saw heavy trucks drive growth this half-year, while medium trucks lagged or fell. The UK shows the reverse pattern.
Electric trucks: one of Europe’s fastest-growing markets Where the UK does align closely with the wider European trend is on electrification — and here it’s actually one of the standout performers. Across the EU, electric truck (ECV) registrations rose 47.7% to 8,235 units, lifting their market share from 3.6% to 4.8%.
In the UK, electric truck registrations climbed from 1,161 to 1,958 units, a rise of 68.6% — a faster growth rate than any single EU market bar Germany. That puts the UK ahead of the Netherlands (+44.5%) and France (+43.7%), the two other markets driving most of the EU’s electric truck growth.
Germany remains the outright leader among EU markets, with registrations up 88.5% to 3,545 units; together with the Netherlands and France, it accounts for 74% of all electric trucks registered across the EU. Diesel, meanwhile, remains dominant EU-wide with a 92.1% market share (+9.3% year-on-year).
The UK’s strong electric growth suggests that, despite the heavy-truck slowdown, operators are actively renewing fleets with lower-emission vehicles — a trend that appears to be running ahead of much of the rest of Europe.
How the van market is growing In the light commercial vehicle segment (vans up to 3.5 tonnes), the UK grew more modestly. Van registrations rose from 156,559 to 158,473 units, up 1.2% — roughly in line with the EU average of 1.9% (742,759 units), though below stronger performers such as Poland, which saw van registrations climb 14.4%.
