Passenger car registrations soar by 27% in January

The Spanish passenger car and off-road vehicle market has started the first month of the year with a 27.5% growth compared to January 2014, with 68,118 registrations. This is the best January the sector has seen since 2010 and the fastest growing in 20 years. The PIVE plan has maintained the strength of a market that, in 2014, began its recovery, with 17 consecutive months of growth.

The automotive manufacturers', sellers', and dealers' associations have reported that the increase in the private channel was 29.1%, reaching 40,990 units. In the business purchase segment, deliveries rose 21.7%, reaching 18,477 units, while in the rental market it rose 32.8%, reaching 8,561. "The impact of the PIVE plan is still being felt in the market; without it, registrations would be at much lower levels," Anfac states in a statement, in which it points out that "the ratios of vehicles sold in Spain per thousand inhabitants are still far from those of Germany or France."

In January, the best-selling brand was Volkswagen, with 6,629 registrations, followed by Seat, Renault, Opel, and Peugeot in fifth place. The star model at the start of 2015 was the Golf, which registered 2,560 sales, just behind the C4, the Seat Leon, the Ibiza, and the Megane, with just over 2,000 cars. The micro vehicle segment has seen strong sales growth of almost 50%. Even so, the best-selling cars continue to be those in the lower-middle segment and small cars. Medium and small SUVs and sports cars have also seen strong growth. The luxury market, with 225 sales, saw a 31% increase in sales.

SOURCE: EL PAÍS / Economy

PHOTO: EFE