Passenger car registrations recorded the year just concluded the first major upturn since the pandemic broke out in 2020, although they remain below the levels of 2019. Since the arrival of covid, the automotive industry is in the midst of change and, between supply chain tensions and the gradual arrival of the electric car, manufacturers are taking the current pulse of the market for granted.
Throughout 2023, car sales rose 16.7% to 949,359 units, the first double-digit increase since 2020. However, the market’s recovery remains partial and is far from over to 1.25 million units in 2019, according to data released yesterday by the associations Anfac, Faconauto and Ganvam.
With the increase in 2023, registrations are close to one million units for the first time in four years, a threshold considered by the sector’s associations as the “psychological barrier” that consolidates the market’s recovery. The annual figure is “positive”, they say, in view of the increase in the cost of financing and inflation.
Between 2009 and 2014 registrations were below one million units and it was not until 2015, with the end of the financial crisis, when this level was exceeded for five consecutive years. The pandemic disrupted this evolution and also the usual sales dynamics.
Apart from episodes such as the lack of chips, the technological transition is setting the pace of the market. In 2023 hybrid, electric and alternative propulsion cars have surpassed for the first time, with 46.7% of the total, petrol cars, which are 40.8%, and diesel cars, which represent 12.5%. However, pure electrics barely account for 7%.
Of the almost 950,000 cars registered last year, 419,528 corresponded to individuals, 14.5% more than in 2022, compared to 393,815 acquired by companies and 98,887 by renters.
The brand with the most sales was Toyota, with 79,883 units, ahead of Kia’s 66,245 and Volkswagen’s 63,871. Hyundai, Seat and Peugeot occupy the following positions, with volumes close to 58,000 units.
China’s MG ZS was December’s best-selling model and, after growing strongly in the market from the summer, has become the big new car of 2023, ranking fourth best commercial results. For the first time a Chinese car is among the best sellers in Spain.
However, the model leading sales has been the Dacia Sandero, with 27,951 units, ahead of the Seat Arona and the Toyota Corolla.
The manufacturers’ association Anfac is confident that registrations will surpass the million unit barrier this year and is therefore asking the Spanish Government for incentives to buy cars. Faconauto dealers describe the exercise as “positive, but insufficient”, while the association of sellers and workshops Ganvam considers that a new progression should occur in 2024 in order not to compromise the competitiveness of the sector.
