BRUSSELS (AP) -- European sales of trucks, vans and busses fell 39 percent in May from a year ago, car makers' association ACEA said Wednesday, the thirteenth month that sales have dropped during the economic downturn.
The group, which represents commercial vehicle makers Scania AB, Man AG, Volkswagen AG, AB Volvo, DAF Trucks and Iveco SpA, has warned it is suffering badly as companies cut back on big-ticket purchases.
Some 138,830 commercial vehicles were sold in May compared to 227,419 during 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 and Britain, where the end of a construction boom has slowed economic growth and hiked unemployment. Sales also fell by around a quarter in Germany, Italy and France.