The global market for natural gas trucks is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 14 per cent from 2012 to 2019, according to Pike Research.
The company suggests that the market for medium duty trucks will be the largest and reach 85,848 vehicle sales by 2019; while the heavy duty market will expand to 25,471 vehicles. 
It is expected that the Asia Pacific region will be the central hub for the market – and account for around 86 per cent of sales of natural gas buses by 2019. Meanwhile, North America and Western Europe will also see strong growth for natural gas buses – expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 10 per cent.
According to Pike Research, the reasons for the surge in popularity are multiple but revolve around: economic growth; environmental benefits; and increased vehicle availability.
At the moment, the worldwide breakdown for natural gas refuelling stations stands at 20,233 CNG refuelling stations and just 117 LNG refuelling stations – around 45 per cent of which are in the United States even though China has the largest number of annual sales.
It is expected that the market will soon expand rapidly with CNG continuing to be preferred because the tanks weigh less and are less expensive; although LNG will be popular for longer range vehicles.
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