Car sales grow 51% with Toyota entrenched as leader

Sales of passenger cars and SUVs shot up 51.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
01 February 2023 Wednesday 14:46
28 Reads
Car sales grow 51% with Toyota entrenched as leader

Sales of passenger cars and SUVs shot up 51.4% in January to 64,147 units, with Toyota entrenched as the leader and the electric vehicle market well below expectations. However, this strong increase is misleading because it is explained by the transfer to January of the firm of operations agreed in December and above all because the comparison is made with respect to abnormally low figures such as those of January 2022, due in large part to to the microchip crisis and transportation problems.

"We are facing a complex year, in which the political decisions that are made will be key to the future of our industry and its employees," warns the Anfac spokesman, Félix García. Raúl Morales, from Faconauto, points out that the strong increase in January "actually reflects how unstable the automotive market is." "We cannot speak of a change in trend because the context that weighed down the market remains the same and what is foreseeable is that, in the coming months, we will again see a very low level of registrations." he adds. Along the same lines, Tania Puche, from Ganvam, points out that "we are still well below pre-pandemic levels and the 100,000 monthly units that, in theory, would correspond to our market."

Toyota consolidated the leadership it achieved last year, with 6,631 vehicles sold, 23.32% more than in January 2022. The second best-selling brand was Kia, with 4,699 units (31%) and Seat appears in third place. which more than doubles the figures of last year, with 4,421, 107% more. By models, the leader was the Dacia Sandero, followed by the Toyota CH-R and the Seat Arona. The Hyundai Tucson, the best-selling car in 2022, fell back to number 12.

The electric market continues in disappointing figures. Despite the fact that in January sales of pure electrics grew by 73%, its market share remains below 5% (4.77%). In total, electrified vehicles, including hybrids, represent 11% of the total. "We are concerned with the evolution of electrified cars," admitted the general director of Anfac, José López-Tafall, who called for incentives for buyers.

"We are aware of the delicate economic situation that our country is going through and that buying a vehicle is always a significant effort for families, but neighboring countries in Europe, under similar conditions, are managing to accelerate electrification," he warns.

Anfac has recalled that it recently presented a roadmap with measures that, in its opinion, must be adopted urgently to accelerate the transition to the electric vehicle.

This package of measures contemplates the improvement of incentive plans for the purchase of electric vehicles, the development of the network of public access charging points and also tax changes to encourage the acquisition of this type of automobile.

"What is no longer valid is to continue the same, if we want different results we have to bet on different measures. Our obligation is to warn it and make concrete proposals, time is running out," said the general director of Anfac.