Sales of passenger cars and SUVs have registered a total of 94,840 units in the month of March, 4.7% less than in the same month of 2023, which represents the first decrease since December 2022 after 14 consecutive months of growth.
In these data, provided by the association of vehicle manufacturers (Anfac), vehicle sellers (Ganvam), and dealers (Faconauto), the so-called “Easter effect” must be taken into account, given that in 2023 it fell in April, Therefore, this year March has had three fewer working days.
Despite this drop, until March registrations grew by 3.1% compared to last year, with 244,879 units, but they were still 22.7% lower before the pandemic in 2019.
The drop in the month has been notably reflected in both the individual and business channels with -3.9% and -27.3%, respectively. The supply of vehicles to face the Easter holiday period has allowed rent-a-car sales to achieve a strong increase of 29.7%, with 31,900 units.
Light commercial and industrial
Registrations of light commercial vehicles achieved an increase of 3.3%, with 13,876 units in March. In the first quarter, a total of 37,866 new registrations were added, which is 10.9% more than the same period of the previous year. By channel, only sales aimed at self-employed workers registered a slight decrease of 0.8% and 2,094 units. For their part, both registrations for companies, with 9,530 sales, and rentals, with 2,252, increased in March by 0.4% and 23.3%, respectively.
In March, registrations of commercial vehicles, buses, coaches and minibuses maintain their positive trend and achieve an increase of 0.3% in the month, with 3,034 units. In the accumulated of the year, there are 7,949 units, with a growth of 15%. By type of vehicle, industrial registrations totaled 2,645 sales, increasing 2.9%. As for buses, coaches and minibuses, their sales have been reduced by 14.1%, to 389 units.
With these figures on the table, from Anfac They consider the drop of more than 27% in company purchases to be worrying “given that these are an indicator of how the economy is doing. But we are more concerned about sales of electrified vehicles. Adding electric and plug-in hybrids in March the share was 10.3%. “We are still very far from achieving the decarbonization objectives both in sales of this type of vehicles and in charging facilities.”
From Faconauto They explain that with this situation “with a practically stagnant market and a slowdown in the sale of electrified vehicles, a reaction is necessary in the form of significant measures that the sector has been demanding from the Government so that our country does not fall further behind.” in the electrification of the park and so that we can aspire to meet the decarbonization objectives that come to us from the European Union.
The Asociation Ganvam considers that it is necessary to “recover sales volumes, which are still around 20% below pre-pandemic levels, to stop the aging of the fleet in its tracks and accelerate decarbonization; “Objectives that involve the development of effective policies that turn zero and low-emission mobility into a truly affordable and accessible option for all citizens.”
The average CO2 emissions of passenger cars sold in March remain at 117.7 grams of CO2 per kilometer traveled, 1.7% lower than the average emissions of new passenger cars sold in the same month of 2023. In total of the year, an average of 116.9 grams of CO2 per kilometer traveled is recorded, 1.87% lower.
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