The car market recovers in September, with a 6.3% increase

The third quarter of the year ended with a recovery in car sales, a 6.3% growth thanks to 73,144 registrations, which come as a breath of fresh air after two particularly bad summer months, to the point that August presented red numbers.

In the accumulated year, Spain has 744,698 operations, 4.7% more than in 2023 but making it difficult to reach the million units, the coveted psychological threshold that has not been seen since 2019. Compared to the figures of that year, we are currently 23% behind.

Ganvam points out that the gap with pre-pandemic figures is narrowing, "although we are still far from reaching the volumes needed to drive fleet renewal. Hence the need to implement effective incentive plans to retire older vehicles."

Last month, the association presented a proposal for scrappage plans that would include used vehicles up to five years old and include powertrains beyond purely electric ones, as the Moves plan currently does.

Even so, from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Anfac), they say that September's results "are very good news. The overall rise of 6% is very positive, especially for individuals, who are growing by more than double digits, which means that citizens still want to renew their old cars for new ones. It is satisfying to see interest in acquiring cleaner vehicles."

By channels, it is noteworthy, as pointed out by the employers' association, the growth of individuals, which was 10.5% higher than in September 2023, with 36,639 units. The rental channel also recorded a considerable increase of 34.4%, thanks to its 4,773 operations. Companies continue their negative trend, but their decline is much milder than in previous months, with 1.1% less than a year ago and 31,732 purchases.

In cumulative terms, companies being 9.6% behind where they were in 2023 is worrying because they are the ones investing most in low (or zero) emission models. In total, they have made 263,286 operations while individuals account for 302,089 registrations, up 7.5%.

This is particularly positive for car manufacturers since end-customer transactions are the most profitable that can occur. On the opposite end of the spectrum are rent-a-car transactions, which feature basic models and large discounts when selling fleets. So far in 2023, rental companies have recovered their volume to 118,094 units, up 32.6% from a year ago.

Anfac points out that "it would be good if buyers made the definitive leap to electromobility and if there was a public awareness campaign in favor of zero-emission vehicles. The private and clean car is another alternative for daily mobility."

Thus, September has been particularly favorable for the electric car market as it grew by 50.1% in September with 6,821 units. In the accumulated year, they total 43,895 units, almost 3% more than in 2024. The market share so far this year is 4.9%.

However, from the federation of official dealers Faconauto points out that "the strong increase in electrified vehicles needs to be qualified as it has been mainly driven by one brand whose commercial policy has likely distorted the market."