Spain sales fall 10% in August despite incentives

New-car registrations in Spain declined 10 percent to 66,925 in August despite a government scrapping plan that was approved in mid-June, data from industry association ANFAC showed.

Registrations rose 1.1 percent in July, the only increase so far this year.

Demand was hit by continuing uncertainty over the health and economic implications of the coronavirus pandemic, ANFAC said.

The Spanish government unveiled a 3.75 billion euro ($4.2 billion) stimulus program starting June 15. The program includes 250 million euros to encourage consumers to replace cars older than 10 years with newer models and more energy-efficient vehicles.

The bonuses range from 800 euros for gasoline and diesel vehicles to 4,000 euros for zero-emissions vehicles.

The stimulus program still has enough funding available to support demand until the end of 2020, ANFAC said.

Sales last month to private customers were down 10 percent to 37,664, according to ANFAC. Sales to companies dropped by 16 percent to 24,230. Registrations by rental car companies rose 22 percent to 5,031.

Winners and losers

A number of brands posted increases in sales. Among volume brands, Kia recorded 26 percent growth, while Renault's sales rose 11 percent. Fiat and Skoda registrations were both up 9.1 percent. Toyota grew by 1.2 percent.

Among premium brands, Volvo sales were up 28 percent, BMW grew by 19 percent and DS sales increased 25 percent.

Sales at Spanish market-leader Seat declined by 2.8 percent. Within the Volkswagen Group, VW brand sales were down 2.5 percent, and Audi and Porsche dropped by 20 percent and 7.7 percent respectively.

At PSA Group, Opel sales fell 42 percent, Citroen declined 22 percent and Peugeot was down 16 percent.

Within the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group, Jeep was down 41 percent, while Alfa Romeo gained 22 percent.

Ford sales dropped 22 percent.

Sales of Dacia, Renault's low-cost sibling brand, declined by 15 percent.

Among other Asian brands, Nissan sales dropped 2.7 percent, while Hyundai declined by 1.3 percent.

Demand for all alternative fuel vehicles, including full-electric and plug-in hybrid models, plus vehicles powered by liquefied petroleum gas and compressed natural gas, rose by 36 percent for a 20.7 percent market share, up from 13.7 percent in August 2019.

Electrified vehicles continued to make big gains in August, with sales of full-electric cars up 152 percent from 2019 to 1,201.

Registrations of plug-in hybrid cars increased 201 percent to 2,396 units, and full-hybrid sales rose 47 percent.

Registrations of diesel-powered vehicles dropped 9 percent for a 27.5 percent share, 0.4 percentage points higher than August 2019. Sales of gasoline-powered cars were down 21 percent for a 51.9 percent market share, down 7.3 percentage points from August 2019 and 1.5 percentage points from July.

Through August, overall Spanish sales are down 41 percent to 524,706.