Likewise, all market segments reduce their deliveries in the month of December compared to the same month last year.
Between January and December 2021, 859,477 units have been sold, 1% more than in 2020 but 32% less than in the same period of 2019. And it is that the pandemic, the
uncertainty and the economic crisis Subsequent and the global shortage of microchips have prevented 2021 from being the year of recovery for car registrations, according to the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers.
Anfac. In fact, all market segments have reduced their deliveries in December compared to the same month last year. Specifically, passenger car registrations are
decreased by 18.7% in the last month of the year, up to 86,081 units, compared to December 2020.
By channels, the
rental channel registers the worst fall with a decrease in deliveries in the month of 45% to 4,063 units. In the year as a whole, however, this channel increased its purchases by 58.5% compared to 2020, to 152,326 units. The retail channel registers a 19.4% drop in the month, to 41,814 units, while for the year as a whole, its purchases fell 12.8%, to 372,637 units.
The average CO2 emissions of passenger cars sold in December stood at 101.4 grams of CO2 per kilometer (WLTP), 2.5% lower than that registered last year this month.
Regarding light commercial vehicles, 10,838 units were registered in December, which is 35% less than in 2020. In the accumulated of the year, sales of light commercial vehicles reached 151,822 units, which registered less sales than in the same period of 2020, 4% less. By channels, the worst fall was registered by the self-employed channel, which reduced its purchases by 64.2%, to 2,083 units, while companies did so by 19.7%, to 7,624 units.
And in the case of industrial vehicles, buses, coaches and minibuses, registrations fell 4% compared to December last year, with 1,686 units. In the accumulated of the year, sales in this segment grew 6.3% compared to 2020, to 22,760 units. The heavy industrial vehicles segment, the one that accumulates the most volume, manages to increase its sales by 6% in the month.
“The year ended has turned out to be even more complicated at the level of registrations than the previous one, despite the closures caused by the pandemic. To the uncertainty and the economic crisis caused by Covid19, we have added the shortage of product due to the lack of semiconductors and bottlenecks in logistics. Manufacturers are bringing new more efficient models to the market, but demand and decarbonisation must be stimulated with other tools, such as charging infrastructures and the renewal of the car fleet, which closes the year with an average age of over 13 years. We understand that the cyclical situation of microchips will improve throughout 2022, which will release part of the stored demand that exists now and that European funds will allow progress in the recovery, which will result in an increase in registrations “, he explains
Noemi navas, Director of Communication of Anfac.
For its part,
Raul morales, communication director of
Faconauto, indicates that «The automotive market last year has been a ‘want and can’t’: we thought it would be the recovery, but the impact of the microchip crisis, with the consequent lack of stock, and the ups and downs of the health crisis have prevented us from meeting our expectations. The result is that we have repeated the same figures from 2020, that is, and to understand each other, we have suffered two consecutive years of a pandemic in the automotive sector. Looking ahead to 2022, boosting the market is once again the priority: we cannot afford such a low level of registrations. We handle two scenarios: an optimistic one, in which around 970,000 units would be registered, which would mean a 13% growth in registrations, and a pessimistic one in which just over 900,000 units would be registered. Given the current uncertainty, these scenarios will depend above all on the evolution of the pandemic and, in market terms, on how the microchip crisis continues to affect and how many sales the increase in Registration Tax will retract.
Finally, according to the Communication Director of
Ganvam,
Tania puche, «The lack of microchips has caused the market to close practically in line with the previous year when, as a result of the pandemic, registrations fell to 2014 levels, returning us to figures from the economic crisis at that time. Everything points to the fact that the semiconductor shortage is going to continue during this new year, to which we will also add the effects of the lack of political will to neutralize the registration tax increase; a scenario that makes us trust the recovery to 2023 ».
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