The sale of passenger cars grew in May by 10% in the Basque Country and by 0.2% in Navarra

Registrations of passenger cars and SUVs in the Basque Country they have risen to 2,374 units during the month of May, which represents an increase of 10% Respect to the same month of previously year. This is the fifth consecutive month with positive data, and it is even above the 8.3% (92,025 units) registered in Spain. In the case of Navarra, the increase has been 0.2% (629 registrations).

These positive data are due to the improvement in production rates, which are making it possible to respond more quickly to orders from dealers, mostly rent-a-car and companies, which are driving the figures, according to data from Anfac (manufacturers), Faconauto (dealers) and Ganvam (sellers).

The accumulated figure in Euskadi since the beginning of the year shows an improvement of 15.9% with 10,014 registered vehicles, and in Navarra of 19.1% with 3,018 vehicles. The evolution of the national average, on the other hand, reflects better accumulated data, with an increase of 26.9%, that is, 404,337 registered vehicles.

However, the sector observes “with concern” sales to individuals, which are still a third below the rate prior to the pandemic. These sales reached a total of 36,495 units in Spain in May, which represents a growth of 5.3% compared to 2022, but a decrease of 33% compared to 2019.

With this number registered in May, chains five months positive, accumulating 404,337 units, 26.9% more than the same period of the previous year, although the data is still 28% lower than the sales made in 2019, before the pandemic. In this sense, Raúl Morales, communication director of Faconauto, maintains the feeling that the recovery is being very slow.

Félix García, director of communication and marketing of Anfac, expects that the end of the year could be around 950,000 units, 25,000 more than the most optimistic forecast that the manufacturers’ association had in January.

However, he has called for caution: “The uncertainty of citizens and companies about which car to buy is still latent and more so now, with the call for general elections that usually paralyzes economic activity.”

“We observe that the private market has not yet started and is waiting for what happens not only in the elections, but also if inflation manages to be contained and interest rate increases stabilize. The latter make financing a new vehicle, which does not benefit the renewal of a fleet that is already over 14 years old”, he stated.

CO2 pollution

The average CO2 emissions of passenger cars sold in May stood at 117.4 grams of CO2 per kilometer traveled, 3.7% lower than the average emissions of new passenger cars sold in the same month of 2022.

So far in 2023, emissions stand at 118.7 grams of CO2 per kilometer traveled, 1.61% less than the same period of the previous year.