BRUSSELS (AP) -- European sales of trucks, vans and busses slumped by a record 42.4 percent in April, car makers' association ACEA said Wednesday, as an economic recession saw businesses shy away from buying new vehicles.
The group, which represents commercial vehicle makers Scania AB, Man AG, Volkswagen AG, AB Volvo, DAF Trucks and Iveco SpA, has warned that they are suffering badly as companies cut back on big-ticket purchases.
Some 139,870 commercial vehicles were sold in April compared to 242,746 for the same month last year, it said. It counts sales across the 27-nation European Union as well as in Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.
The biggest chunk of the market, vans, saw sales slump by more than half in Spain, where the end of a construction boom has slowed economic growth and hiked unemployment. Van sales were also down 45 percent in Britain and by around a third in France, Germany and Italy.