Spain sales rise 18% in September on WLTP

New-car sales in Spain rose 18 percent to 81,751 in September, inflated by an extra selling day and a poor month in 2018 due to new emissions rules.

Higher sales to business fleets boosted the Spanish market. Sales to companies increased 31 percent and sales to rental companies more than doubled.

Registrations by private customers rose 3.3 percent. Demand by private customers remains weak, with nine-month registrations down 13 percent.

Sales of diesel vehicles were down 9.1 percent for a 28.2 percent market share, higher than the three previous months but 8.5 percentage points lower than September 2018.

Sales of gasoline cars were up 29 percent for a 57.2 percent share, up from 54.2 percent a year ago. Sales of all electrified cars -- full-electric and hybrid, plus vehicles powered by liquefied petroleum gas and compressed natural gas, jumped 62 percent and claimed a 14.5 percent market share, up from 9.1 percent in September 2018.

Registrations of full-electric cars increased 46 percent for a 1.1 percent share.

The Renault Clio small hatchback was the most popular model in Spain in September with 2,284 units delivered, beating the Nissan Qashqai crossover, with 2,132 units sold, and the Seat Leon compact car, with 1,955.

Among automakers, Volkswagen Group, Renault and Fiat Chrysler brands had a good month.

VW Group's Porsche brand saw its volume rise 423 percent while Audi's registrations rose 92 percent and VW brand sales rose 62 percent. All three brands had problems getting their cars ready for the new WLTP tests in September 2018. Skoda gained 21 percent and Seat sales grew 12 percent.

Renault brand sales jumped 92 percent, while sister brand Dacia posted a 6.7 percent increase.

Fiat Chrysler's Fiat brand gained 62 percent and Alfa Romeo's volume doubled. Jeep deliveries were up 4.5 percent.

PSA Group has a mixed month. Citroen's registrations increased 2.4 percent while Opel sales fell 5.8 percent and Peugeot sales were down 1.4 percent.

Asian brands also had a good month, except Kia.

Nissan's registrations rose 47 percent, Hyundai's sales increased 19 percent and Toyota gained 5.3 percent. Kia's registrations fell 5.9 percent.

Among other brands, Mercedes-Benz sales grew by 9.2 percent, BMW deliveries were down 8.7 percent. Ford sales increased 7.3 percent.

Spanish registrations fell 17 percent in September 2018 after the EU's new WLTP tests became compulsory for all vehicles sold, industry association ANFAC said in a press release.

The September increase did not compensate the September 2018 drop, said Noemi Navas from the industry association ANFAC.

Spanish dealer association GANVAM expects registrations to drop more than 5 percent for the full year unless the government introduces incentives to stimulate demand, said spokesperson Tania Puche.

Through September, Spanish registrations are down 7.4 percent to 965,339 units.