The European Union commercial vehicles market in January-September saw an annual growth of 3.6 percent year-on-year, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) reported on Thursday.

The ACEA said the number of new commercial vehicle registrations amounted to 1.8 million over the first three quarters of 2018.

The association noted that Spain showed the highest growth rate with 8.7 percent, followed by France and Germany, increasing by 5.2 and 4 percent, respectively.

"Demand in Italy and the U.K., on the other hand, contracted by 0.5 percent and 3.5 percent respectively," the ACEA said.

From January to September, the EU demand for vans -- light commercial vehicles -- grew by 3.5 percent to reach 1.5 million new vehicle registrations.

The ACEA stated that demand for new heavy trucks remained positive over the same period.

"231,894 new [heavy commercial] vehicles were registered so far this year, or 4.5 percent more than in 2017," it said.

More than 31,000 new medium/heavy buses and coaches were registered in the EU in January-September, marking a slight increase -- 0.9 percent -- compared to the same period last year.

"Registrations increased significantly in both Italy [up 35.6 percent] and France [up 8.2 percent], but the market contracted in the U.K. [down 12.4 percent], Germany [down 3.9 percent] and Spain [down 3.5 percent]," the ACEA added.