Spanish sales fall 12% in November, but reasons for optimism in 2022

Spanish new-car sales fell 12 percent in November compared with 2020, according to industry group ANFAC, as automakers continued to struggle with the semiconductor shortage and the economic effect of the pandemic.

There were 66,399 registrations for the month, ANFAC said. That figure is 29 percent below the pre-pandemic level of 2019, and it comes after a 21 percent drop in October.

Registrations to private customers fell by 11 percent to 34,436, while business sales declined 12 percent to 28,733. Sales to rental companies dropped by 23 percent to 3,230.

A number of brands recorded gains, including Hyundai (up 25 percent), Citroen (12 percent), Toyota (11 percent) and Kia (8.7 percent).
 

Despite the decline, there are some signs for optimism. Sales for the first 11 months were up 3.8 percent to 773,396, ANFAC said, although that figure is 33 percent lower than the same period in 2019.

According to the dealer group GANVAM, registrations will close at 855,000 units in 2021, half a percentage point higher than the 851,211 sales of 2020.

Dealer group Faconauto sees some encouraging signs based on incoming orders, as customers adapt to the realization that they will have to wait longer for cars because of the chip shortage. Faconauto says dealers have received more than 100,000 customer orders which will turn into registrations in 2022.

Peugeot was the most popular brand in November, with 5,797 sales, Hyundai was second with 5,725 and Toyota third with 5,439. VW’s Spanish brand Seat finished in eighth position, with 3,817 sales, although it remained No. 1 for the first 11 months.

The Dacia Sandero small hatchback was the most popular model in November, with 2,264 sales, followed by the Hyundai Tucson compact SUV, with the Peugeot 2008 small crossover rounding out the top three.

Sales of Volkswagen Group's core brand, VW, fell 28 percent, while Seat sales dipped 37 percent and Skoda was down 35 percent. VW Group has paused production at its main plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, which builds the best-sellling Golf compact hatchback, many times this year because of a lack of semiconductors. Sales of the Golf were down 55 percent in November.

Within Stellantis, Peugeot fell 4.5 percent, and Opel declined 28 percent. Fiat's volume slipped 22 percent, while Jeep dropped 12 percent.

Ford sales were down 40 percent, while Renault fell 16 percent and Dacia was down 7.9 percent. Nissan saw a 23 percent decline.

Among premium brands, Mercedes-Benz sales fell 41 percent, BMW and Audi both dropped 22 percent.

Sales of full-electric vehicles rose by 48 percent year-on-year, resulting in a 4.2 percent market share compared with a 2.5 percent share in November 2020; the share reached a peak of 4.9 percent in September.

The Tesla Model 3 was Spain's most popular EV in November, with 248 registrations, followed by the Peugeot 208 and the Kia Niro. The Model 3 is the most popular EV through November, with 2,420 registrations, ahead of the Niro and Renault Zoe.

Plug-in hybrids had a 6.6 percent share, down from 7.1 percent in October but up from 4 percent in November 2020.

Sales of full-hybrid vehicles rose 22 percent for a 28.2 percent market share, compared with a 20.2 percent share in November 2020.

Sales of gasoline-powered cars were down 18 percent for a 40.8 percent share, which was down 2.8 percentage points from September 2020.

Diesel sales dropped 42 percent for a 18.4 percent share, down 9.6 percentage points year-on-year.