Car sales stumbled again in December, just as the sector was beginning to talk about recovery. In total, 813,396 passenger cars and SUVs will be registered in Spain throughout 2022, according to data published by sector employers. This is the lowest figure since 2013, after the last financial crisis.
That sales figure is 5.4% below the 2021 figure, but above all, it’s below the 830,000 units that automakers had expected. The reason was that December was very bad and it was not expected.
In the last month of the year, sales decreased by 14.1% and 73,927 new registrations remained. Behind this failure are “difficulties transporting vehicles to dealers” which “caused thousands of vehicles to be parked in ports and fields, delaying their delivery to buyers,” Anfac, the manufacturers’ employers’ association; Faconauto and Ganvam, from dealers. On average, it takes more than two months for dealers to deliver the new cars they buy to customers, although this depends on each make and model.
“In any case, 2022 was a difficult year for car sales, with factors such as the war in Ukraine, rising energy and fuel costs, or rising inflation and interest rates driving consumer purchasing decisions.” They justify.
“In addition to the economic crisis with rising energy prices, inflation and interest rates, these disruptions to sea and road transport have ended up being the perfect storm. All this means that 2022 will once again fall short of forecasts, leaving us with an unfavorable scenario for 2023, where we have to carefully manage the assault on the 900,000 unit mark,” explains Anfac.
“Everything will depend on whether the conflict in Ukraine ends and the logistics chain normalizes to allow more new vehicles to be delivered.” It will also help add new registrations if the government accelerates measures to provide direct support for fast charging points and electrified vehicles. “There is a real risk of losing investment and employment in the market conditions below one million units,” the manufacturers warn.
Electric sales are better
On the other hand, electrified vehicle registrations are doing better, increasing by 19.1% in 2022. They closed the year with sales of 84,645 units, including electric and plug-in hybrids, both passenger and commercial vehicles and buses.
Despite the positive performance, the sector worries that they only account for 8.8% of the total, and sales of electrified vehicles fell by 2.8% in December, with 8,781 units on the market.
“Compared to last year, the market is growing, but the rate of penetration is extremely slow. A share of around 10% of total sales was achieved in the last month, when the electrified had to close the year with a share of more than 14% to meet the decarbonisation targets set by the government”, says José López-Tafal, General. Director of Anfac through a statement.
Toyota, the best-selling brand, and Seat, sinks
2022 also turned the top selling brands upside down. For the first time, Toyota leads the list of manufacturers with the most registrations, with 73,505 units. The Japanese manufacturer is accompanied on the podium by two other Asian manufacturers, Korean Kia (63,345) and Hyundai (59,503).
It wasn’t a good year for Seat, which went from leading the Spanish market to the sixth best-selling brand with 49,200 units. The more than 70,500 it registered in 2021 is far behind. Volkswagen, part of the same German group, also topped it with 58,874 vehicles; And French Peugeot 54737.
The best-selling brand in December was Volkswagen, with 5,647 units, followed by Toyota and Kia. And the best-selling model for 2022 was the Hyundai Tucson, with 21,985 units registered.
Source: El Diario
