New-car sales in Spain rose 2.3 percent to 93,158 in November despite one less selling day than in the same month of 2018.
The growth was driven by self-registrations as automakers seek to reduce stocks of cars with high CO2 emissions ahead of tougher emissions limits next year.
Dealers are self-registering models with high CO2 emissions, especially gasoline-powered cars, according to dealer body FACONAUTO. These will weigh on tougher CO2 reduction targets that will come into effect in the EU next year.
The self-registered cars will be sold as used vehicles in the coming months.
About 30 percent of cars sold in November were self-registrations, according to another dealer group, GANVAM.
Company car sales rose 21 percent and sales to rental companies grew 7.1 percent in November. Registrations to private buyers fell 8.1 percent.
Sales of gasoline-powered cars fell 3.1 percent in for a 56 percent share of the market, down 5 percent compared with November 2018. Registrations of diesel-powered vehicles dropped 4.9 percent for a 28.4 percent share, 2.1 percent lower than November 2018.
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Sales of all electrified cars including full-electric and hybrid models plus vehicles powered by liquefied petroleum gas and compressed natural gas rose 54 percent to a 15.6 percent market share. Hybrid car sales grew 85 percent for a 12.5 market share.
The Seat Leon compact hatchback was the most popular model during the month, followed by the Dacia Sandero small hatchback and the Nissan Qashqai compact crossover. Six out of the top 10 best-sellers were SUVs or crossovers.
Porsche, Audi winners
Among automakers, Porsche and Audi had a good month, with registrations up 513 percent and 47 percent respectively. The brands lost sales in the same month last year because not all their models were ready to be certified under new WLTP tests.
Among other Volkswagen Group brands, Skoda's registrations grew 14 percent, VW brand's volume was up 0.5 percent and Seat's sales fell 0.1 percent.
Renault brand sales were down 15 percent, while sister brand Dacia saw volume rise 12 percent.
Fiat brand gained 9.3 percent, Alfa Romeo registrations rose 5.3 percent and Jeep deliveries were down 34 percent.
PSA Group brands had a bad month, with Opel registrations down 27 percent, Citroen down 15 percent and Peugeot down 10 percent.
Asian brands grew sales, with the exception of Nissan.
Mazda's registrations jumped 47 percent, Kia's volume grew by 26 percent, Toyota's sales increased 19 percent and Hyundai gained 6.2 percent.
Nissan's registrations fell 5.8 percent.
Among other brands, BMW sales grew 20 percent, Ford sales increased 6.2 percent. Mercedes-Benz sales were down 1.4 percent.
ANFAC forecasts that the Spanish market will fall 4 percent this year.
In the first 11 months, registrations are down 5.7 percent to 1.15 million.
