New-car sales in Spain declined 6 percent to 94,620 in February, hit by falling demand from private customers.
Sales to private customers dropped 11 percent, the 17th consecutive month of declines with the single exception of September 2019. In January, they fell 14 percent.
Sales to rental companies were down 1.6 percent in February, while registrations by companies (which include self-registrations by automakers and dealers) declined 2 percent.
Spanish industry association ANFAC now expects the market to decline 4 percent this year. Two months ago, the body forecast sales would match those of 2019.
Sales of gasoline-powered cars dropped 13 percent in February for a 55.6 percent share of the market, down 4.6 percent from February 2019. Registrations of diesel-powered vehicles were down 12 percent for a 28 percent share, 1.9 percent lower than February 2019.
Despite this, the 28 percent share is higher than the 2019 average of 27.9 percent, highlighting the possibility that diesel demand might not sink any further.
Sales of electrified cars, including full-electric and hybrid models plus vehicles powered by liquefied petroleum gas and compressed natural gas, rose 56 percent to a 16.5 percent market share. Hybrid car sales grew 74 percent for a 12.9 percent market share.
Winners
The recently launched small SUV Kamiq helped Skoda post a 37 percent increase. Other brands within the Volkswagen Group also did well. Spanish brand Seat was up 1.7 percent, VW gained 2.7 percent and Audi 2.4 percent. Porsche sales jumped 173 percent.
Within PSA Group, Opel registrations dropped 27 percent, Peugeot sales declined 9.2 percent and Citroen was down 0.2 percent.
Renault brand sales were down 11 percent, while sister brand Dacia suffered a 34 percent decline.
Within the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group, Fiat fell 17 percent, Jeep registrations were down 34 percent, while Alfa Romeo dropped 12 percent.
Asian brands had mixed results. Kia posted a 24 percent increase, helped by the recently launched XCeed compact crossover, and by a 127 percent jump in sales of the small Stonic crossover. Sister brand Hyundai had flat sales.
Toyota's sales increased 22 percent, while both Nissan's and Mazda's registrations fell 23 percent.
Among other brands, BMW posted a 13 percent gain while Mercedes-Benz sales suffered a 17 percent drop.
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Ford sales were down 21 percent.
Through February, Spanish sales fell 6.8 percent to 181,063.
