Spain August 2013: Dacia Sandero leads in market back in hell

Dacia Sandero

* See the Top 200 best-selling models and Top 45 All-brands by clicking on the title! *

After July gave us a lot of hope (+16%), in August the Spanish new car market is back in hell: down a harsh 18% year-on-year to 39,931 sales, the first time since registrations are recorded in Spain that a month of August is below 40,000 units, to be compared with a August high of 105,064 units in 2005, and worryingly close to the lowest ever recorded month in Spanish history, in September 2012 at 35,206 sales. In this challenging environment, one model stands out head and shoulders this month: the Dacia Sandero, up 9 spots on July to simply take the lead by far for the 2nd time this year after January thanks to 1,536 sales and 3.8% share. This means the Sandero most probably sold twice as much as the #2 model in the private sales ranking. As a result, while the rest of the Top 12 brands all lose at least 15%, Dacia is up 43% to #8, only 22 units below Renault!

Rare appearance of a Chinese model in a Western European ranking: the Landwind CV9

Only the VW Golf also stays afloat, up one spot on July to #2 at 1,213 units and 3% but still #7 year-to-date. Leader last month, the Seat Ibiza is down to #3 but consolidates its year-to-date lead with the Opel Corsa down to a paltry #11. The Nissan Qashqai is back up 2 ranks to #4, while the Peugeot 308 takes advantage of runout pricing of the current gen to get a second wind, up 9 to #5. The Opel Astra is up 3 to #6, the Toyota Auris up 4 to a brilliant 9th spot, the Hyundai i30 up 6 to #13, Dacia Duster up a massive 43 spots to #17, the Renault Captur is up 5 to #31 but seems to have stabilised around 1% share, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta is up a huge 76 ranks to #32, Kia Carens up 28 to #52, Chevrolet Trax up 31 to #78 and the Peugeot 2008 down 28 to #87. Finally, notice the Landwind CV9 making a rare appearance at #102 with 87 units and the BMW 4 Series landing at #200.

Previous month: Spain July 2013: Seat Ibiza regains control

One year ago: Spain August 2012: Nissan Qashqai confirms pole position

Full August 2013 Top 200 models and Top 45 All-brands Ranking Tables below.