Spain July 2014: Seat Leon dominates ahead of VW Polo

Can the Seat Leon beat the Ibiza to finish the year in pole position at home?

* See the Top 230 best-selling models and Top 50 brands by clicking on the title! *

Spanish new car sales hit a new high in July, confirming they are definitely on the mend: up 11% year-on-year to 83,435 registrations, the strongest month of July since 2009 (108,961). Granted, it is still only less than half the all-time high of 176,980 units reached exactly ten years ago in 2004, but with a market up a splendid 17% so far in 2014, the perspectives are good for car dealers across the country. In the brands ranking, after a month of June dominated by an unusually strong Renault (12% share!), Volkswagen (9.5%) and Seat (7.5%) reclaim the top 2 spots they also hold year-to-date in July. Renault is down to #3 at 7% share which is still better than its #5 spot year-to-date, above Opel (6.7%) and Peugeot (6.2%). Notice also Dacia up 66% to #8, Fiat up 42% to #9, Kia up 38% to #14, Mercedes up 31% to #15 and Mazda up 97% to #18.

The Kia Sportage stops just short off a Top 10 ranking at #11.

The Seat Leon is the most popular model at home in Spain for only the third time in history (the 2nd for this generation) after June 2011 and February 2014 thanks to 2,945 sales and 3.5% share. The Leon is now only 612 units (18,571 vs. 19,183) below its little sister the Seat Ibiza in the 2014 year-to-date ranking, with the last 5 months of the year decisive for the attribution of Spain’s best-selling car crown. Needless to say the Leon has never before topped the annual ranking in Spain (or any other country in the world for that matter) whereas the Ibiza has done so 10 times already, including the past 5 consecutive years. The VW Polo is up two spots on June to land at a beautiful 2nd place ahead of the Ibiza.

The Fiat 500L hits its best-ever ranking in Spain so far this month.

Another outstanding score for the Dacia Sandero up 4 ranks on last month to 4th position, with other great performers in Spain in July including the Kia Sportage up 8 to #11, the Renault Captur at #13 vs. #22 year-to-date, the Fiat 500L up 5 to a best-ever #17, Hyundai ix35 up 6 to #19, Citroen C4 Catus up a further 6 to a record #35 and Mercedes GLA up to #61. Finally, notice the Mercedes V-Class up 21 to #118, the BMW X4 up 9 to #139, the Porsche Macan down 7 to #149 but still the brand’s best-seller in Spain and the BMW i3 breaking into the Top 200 at #186.

Previous month: Spain June 2014: Renault up 50% to lead with 12% share

One year ago: Spain July 2013: Seat Ibiza regains control

Full July 2014 Top 230 models and Top 50 brands Ranking Tables below.