Sales of passenger cars and SUVs close their second month on the rise with annual growth of 32.1%, but still 24% lower before the pandemic
Registrations of light commercial vehicles in February achieved an increase of 19.1% in the month, with 11,264 sales
Sales of industrial vehicles, buses, coaches and minibuses grew by 6.8% in February with 2,160 units
Madrid, March 1, 2023. For the second consecutive month, the market for passenger cars and SUVs closed positively, with growth of 19.2% and 74,001 new units registered. The increase in sales is due, in part, to the improvement in the supply chain and in vehicle production. However, it must be remembered that in the final months of 2022 sales fell due to bottlenecks in vehicle transport, so it is not clear how much of the increase obtained in January and February would correspond to these sales retained in November and December. Despite this increase, registrations are still 22% lower than in the same month of February 2020, the pre-pandemic period. For the year accumulated, 138,039 units are already reached, 32.1% more than the previous year, but 24% less than the pre-pandemic period.
The average CO2 emissions of passenger cars sold in February remain at 118.8 grams of CO2 per kilometer traveled, 0.95% lower than the average emissions of new passenger cars sold in the same month of 2022. During 2023, emissions stand at 118.7 grams of CO2 per kilometer travelled, 0.46% less than the same period of the previous year.
Regarding registrations by channels, they follow the same trend as the general market. During the last month, sales to individuals achieved an increase of 8.6%, reaching 32,463 units. Similarly, registrations directed to the business channel closed the second month with 32,041 sales, which represents an increase of 12.9% compared to the previous year. While the rent-a-car adds a total of 9,497 units, with an increase of 148.9%.
LIGHT COMMERCIAL VEHICLES
Registrations of light commercial vehicles closed the second month with 11,264 units, which represents an increase of 19.1% compared to last year. In the first two months there were a total of 20,729 registrations, 26.4% more than the previous year. Regarding sales by channels, both those aimed at companies and renters obtained an improvement of 41.6% and 4.1%, respectively, while sales to individuals fell by 25.4% in the second month, with 1,825 registrations.
INDUSTRIAL AND BUSES
During February, registrations of industrial vehicles, buses, coaches and minibuses managed to grow by 6.8%, with a total of 2,160 units. So far in 2023, there have already been a total of 4,925 sales, which represents an increase of 14.3% compared to the previous year. By type, industrial vehicles obtained 1,935 new registrations, with an increase of 3.7%, with heavy industrial vehicles >16 tons being the only ones that fell. While the market for buses, coaches and minibuses closed with 225 sales in February, increasing by 43.3%.
STATEMENTS
Félix García, director of communication and marketing at ANFAC, explained that “February continues on the upward path with which we began the year. Growing is always positive, but when compared to the data for February 2020, when we were still unaware of the pandemic, it still places us a long way off. In that February, 98,221 units were registered, so we still have a monthly market that loses more than 20,000 sales in comparison. The parts supply chain continues to improve which is beneficial to the improvement, but we still have logistics bottlenecks. In the same way, prices are not helping, with inflation continuing to rise, although in a more contained manner. For this reason, the sector insists that if the aid for the purchase of electrified vehicles were direct and not subsidies, it would help to promote the market as a whole and even more so the low and zero emissions market, which contributes, to a great extent, to rejuvenating a park. mobile that flirts with being 14 years old”.
Raúl Morales, communication director of FACONAUTO, indicated that «The improvement in registrations for the month of February means chaining two consecutive months with a positive market. However, we do not envision a change in trend since this situation is due, above all, to the fact that the operations that were pending in the month of December are being registered in these first months of the year. It is a priority to recover the market and there is no doubt that this start of the year is encouraging, but we have to make this become a trend and that, little by little, the path of registrations necessary for a country and an economy like Spain is recovered. .
According to GANVAM’s communication director, Tania Puche, highlighted that “registrations are once again a positive sign. In February, although their growth slowed down, they continued to rise, thanks above all to the rental channel, which doubled their purchases compared to the same month of the previous year. However, we are still far from pre-pandemic levels, so despite the improvement we cannot speak of a market recovery. The economic uncertainty and the difficulties in the logistics and supply chain will not allow, at least, until 2024 to overcome the psychological barrier of one million units registered per year”.