Spanish passenger car market falls again in July

02 August 2019 Ian Fletcher

[Excerpt]

The Spanish passenger car market fell further in July. According to the latest data published by the Spanish Association of Passenger Car and Truck Manufacturers (Asociación Española de Fabricantes de Automóviles Turismos y Camiones: ANFAC), registrations declined by 11.1% y/y to 116,686 units. The performance this month created further drag on the market in the YTD, and now its registrations are down by 6.5% y/y at 809,159 units.

Significance: The decline in the Spanish market during July came despite one additional working day compared to July 2018. However, this month was also boosted by OEMs seeking to register non-WLTP certified vehicles before the September deadline, with a heavy use of incentives. ANFAC notes that this definitely had a benefit to company car and rental car fleets, with the former now down by 8.2% y/y to 40,452 units and the latter retreating by 10.9% y/y. It may also have been a factor part of the reason for the 13% y/y decline to 57,952 units of private customer demand. However, Raúl Morales, Director of Communication of dealer lobby group FACONAUTO, added that the declines have also come despite dealers and brand heavily incentivising the market this month. He stated that many customers are also delaying registrations on political uncertainty and potential for reforms in the regulatory environment, particularly in terms of powertrain type. Morales also warns that there could be further swings in August and September as the second phase of WLTP is introduced, which will require dealers to register around 15,000 vehicles prior to 1 September. For now, IHS Markit anticipates that registrations will still fall by 0.4% y/y to 1.32 million units during 2019, before recovering the following year.