Spain April 2016: Market back in positive (+21%), VW back to #1

VW Golf sales are up 45% year-on-year in Spain in April, helping the brand back to #1.

* See the Top 45 All-brands and Top 275 All-models by clicking on the title *

After ending 30 consecutive months of year-on-year gains in March with a 0.6% drop, the Spanish new car market is back in frankly positive territory with April up a gigantic 21% to 100.889 registrations, the first six-digit April score in eight years – since the 123.620 deliveries of April 2008. The year-to-date total is now up 10% to 388.087, here too the best tally after 4 months since 2008 (471.382), but still a fair distance from the all-time record of 2005 (546.906). Once again sales to rental pull the market up with a 29% increase to reach 20.9% market share. Company sales are up 21% to 26.5% share while private sales are up 18% to 52.6% vs. 53.8% a year ago and 50.5% so far in 2016 (52.6% at the same stage in 2015). So all-in-all a pretty homogeneous growth across all channels which is great news.

The Seat Ibiza is the best-selling nameplate in Spain in April but the Leon is #1 YTD.

In the brands ranking, Volkswagen puts an end to three consecutive months of reign by Opel with sales up 31% to 9.014 and 8.9% share vs. 7.720 and 7.7% (+10%) for Opel which however remains in the year-to-date lead at 32.740 deliveries (+22%) vs. 31.537 (+3%) for VW. Peugeot holds itself in third position, gaining slightly less ground than the market in April at +18% to 7.403 deliveries. Seat is down 4% to 4th place above Renault (+7%) while Citroen (+46%), Kia (+34%) and Toyota (+13%) are the other double-digit gainers inside the Top 10. Below, Volvo (+44%), Suzuki (+49%), Hyundai (+60%), Land Rover (+69%), Jeep (+71%) and Honda (+83%) are among the greatest performers while Jaguar (+309%), Ferrari (+200%), Tesla (+133%) and Lamborghini (+100%) lead smaller brands.

The Dacia Sandero ranks third overall in Spain this month.

Overtaking its larger stablemate the Leon for 149 units (3.363 vs. 3.214), the Seat Ibiza becomes the best-selling nameplate in the country in April for the first time in almost a year – the last was in May 2015 – but the Leon retains the year-to-date pole position at 12.962 units vs. 11.508. The Dacia Sandero is up two spots on March to brilliantly land on the third step of the podium, followed by the VW Golf (+45%) and Polo (+49%) both extremely dynamic, as is the Peugeot 308 at #7 (+46%). Less than a year after its launch, the Hyundai Tucson manages to crack the Spanish Top 10 for the 2nd time at #10 thanks to 1.765 sales.

The F-Pace is already Jaguar’s best-seller in Spain. 

Among other recent launches, the Renault Kadjar is stable at #33, the Fiat Tipo is up 22 spots on last month to #73, the Mercedes GLC up 6 to #76 and the Suzuki Vitara is up 14 to #87. The Jaguar F-Pace up almost 100 ranks to #143 with 118 sales, becoming the brand’s best-seller in Spain as early as its third appearance in the Spanish charts – the Jaguar XE follows at #162. Further down, the Seat Ateca is up 21 ranks to #203, and we welcome the Suzuki Baleno at #210, the Porsche 718 at #217, the Mercedes GLS at #254 and the Ssangyong XLV at #255.

Previous month: Spain March 2016: First decline in 31 months on weak rentals

One year ago: Spain April 2015: Seat Leon takes clear advantage, Dacia Sandero #3

Full April 2016 Top 45 All-brands and Top 275 All-models below.