The sale of new cars is one of the indicators that show the economic situation of families and companies. When a household is forced to cut its teeth, it has no room to renew the vehicle. It's the same with businesses, big or small. In this sense, if 2022 was a bad year, with registrations falling to the lowest in the last nine years, 2023 has started on a good foot.
In the first quarter the market grew by 44.5% and there are already almost 240,000 new passenger cars on the roads. The figures are close to those before the pandemic. The growth was general, but especially intense in electrified and high-end ones.
Spain is one of the countries that lags behind in Europe in terms of the electrification of the mobile fleet, but the first three months of 2023 could begin to indicate a positive trend. In March, registrations of passenger cars driven entirely or partially by electricity increased by 71.2%. 40,698 units were delivered, which meant that four out of ten vehicles sold last month were electrified. This package includes 100 percent electric cars and plug-in hybrids. Petrol vehicles continued to lead with a 45% share and diesels fell to 13%.
At present, one in ten vehicles registered in Spain is electrified, a figure that indicates that the country, families and companies are timidly starting to do their homework towards a sustainable mobile fleet. BBVA Research estimated that, at the end of the financial year, this share will rise to 22%. It will have to be seen.
Looking at the sale of electrified vehicles by brand, during the first quarter of 2023 there was a group of manufacturers that particularly increased their operations. Among them is Tesla, which almost reached a thousand units sold. In March, for example, for every Toyota (the leading brand last month) sold, a model from Elon Musk's company was registered. In other words, despite their high prices, some Teslas are starting to enter the Spanish market with force. Particularly noteworthy are the sales of the Model Y, which sold 800 units last month alone. Between January and March 2023, enrollments grew by 484%.
MG, an old British company reinvented by the Asian giant SAIC as a manufacturer of electrified vehicles, is one of them. Its sales grew in January by 762% and during the first quarter they accumulated an increase of 500%. A similar thing happens with Lynk
The sale of high-end cars also soared at the beginning of the year. The growth during the first quarter of Porsche stands out, which sold almost a thousand units, an increase of 37.5%. The most popular model was the Macan, the simplest model, which costs around 70,000 euros.
Thirty Ferraris were also sold in the first three months. The most popular was the two-seater 296 GTB, with 8 registrations, the price of which is close to 300,000 euros. Seventeen Lamborghinis were also sold: seven of the Huracan model, which exceeds 230,000 euros, and ten of the Urus, which approaches 240,000 euros. There were also 140 sales of Maserati models, three Lotus Emiras, which exceed 100,000 euros, and ten Aston Martins.
