Spanish sales drop 19% in November as slump continues

Registrations in Spain fell 19 percent in November compared with the same month in 2019, as a resurgence of the coronavirus depressed spending and partial lockdowns affected business in a number of areas.

There were 75,708 passenger vehicles registered in the month, which had 21 selling days, one more than in November 2019, according to the industry association ANFAC.

Results varied widely among brands, with DS, Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz among those that increased sales in November. DS sales jumped 69 percent, Jeep registrations rose 3.9 percent, Alfa Romeo sales were up 4.5 percent, Mercedes-Benz gained 1.3 percent and Land Rover grew by 0.2 percent.

Brands with the biggest declines included Opel, down 45 percent; Ford, down 37 percent; and Seat ,down 29 percent. Seat was edged out for the monthly sales title by Peugeot, even though Peugeot sales fell by 12 percent but still outperformed the market. Citroen sales declined by 19 percent.

Sales were down in all channels, with private registrations down 24 percent, sales to rental companies down 35 percent and business sales down 7.6 percent.

The decline in November follows a 21 percent drop in October. For the first 11 months, sales are down 35 percent to 745,369, ANFAC said.

Prospects for a recovery next year are clouded by a potential increase in emissions-based registration tax from Jan. 1. From that date, the tariff will be based on WLTP emissions figures, which are higher than the current NEDC values; according to ANFAC and other industry groups, half of all new cars will be subject to a tax increase. 

Vehicles emitting less than 120 grams per kilometer of CO2 are exempt, while those emitting 121 g/km to 160 g/km pay a 4.75 percent registration tax on the value of the vehicle; the tax rate rises to 9.75 percent from 161 to 200 g/km, and reaches 14.75 percent over 200 g/km. 

A report in the Spanish newspaper Cincodias said that the government is weighing whether to continue the 250 million euro scrappage plan to 2021 to at least partly compensate for any negative impact of the registration tax increase.

The scrapping program, called Plan Renove, went into effect on Oct. 20 and expires on Dec. 31. Incentives range from 800 euros for gasoline and diesel vehicles to 4,000 euros for zero-emissions vehicles such as full-electric cars. According to figures from the Ministry of Industry cited by Cincodias, only 28 million euros have been used so far.

Within the Volkswagen group, the VW brand dropped 23 percent, Skoda was down 19 percent, Audi declined by 7.1 percent.

Renault brand was down 3 percent, and Dacia sales dropped 9 percent.

BMW sales dropped 6.2 percent.

Asian brands struggled in November, with Toyota registrations falling 26 percent, Nissan's volume was down 17 percent and Mazda dropping 42 percent. Kia sales declined by 19 percent, and Hyundai was down 9 percent.

Demand for alternative-fuel vehicles, including full-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles and those powered by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) continued to be strong, increasing 49 percent year over year in November to 21,667. 

Their 28.6 percent market share was higher than the 27.8 percent share for diesel cars. Diesel sales declined 20 percent to 21,061; gasoline car sales fell 37 percent to 32,980. 

Electrified vehicles continued to make big gains, with sales of full-electric cars up 137 percent to 1,873 compared with November 2019.

The Hyundai Kona Electric was Spain's best-selling full-electric car in November with 277 sales, followed by the Renault Zoe with 196 and the Volkswagen ID3 with 132.

Registrations of plug-in hybrid cars increased 264 percent to 3,048 units. The plug-in hybrid version of the Mercedes A-Class hatchback was the most popular, followed by the plug-in hybrid versions of Renault Captur small crossover and Seat Leon compact hatchback.