Spain May 2017: Seat Leon leads market up 11.1%

The Seat Leon is the best-selling nameplate in Spain this month.

* See the Top 45 All-brands and Top 290 All-models by clicking on the title *

New car sales in Spain are up by a robust 11.1% year-on-year in May to 126.998 registrations, the highest score for the month since 2007 (153.400) and only the fourth time in the last decade that May sales are a six-digit figure. This means the year-to-date tally is up 7.2% to 538.710, the highest result after five months since 2008. Unfortunately this month’s gain is mainly artificial as rental sales surge 18% in the wake of the summer season to 31.7% share vs. 29.8% a year ago and 26.3% year-to-date and business sales are up 13.2% to 24.4% share vs. 24% a year ago. Reversely, private sales gain just 5.6% to 43.9% share vs. 46.2% in May 2016 and 47.1% so far this year.

Despite a 2% decline, Opel reclaims the top spot it held a year ago with 8.2% share. The last time Opel was the best-selling brand in Spain was last January. Volkswagen gains 22% year-on-year and two spots on last month to snap the 2nd place ahead of Renault (-2%), Peugeot (+8%) and Seat (-5%) going from #1 in April to #5 this month. Fiat (+39%) and Toyota (+32%) post the largest year-on-year increases in the Top 10 while below, Kia (+20%), Hyundai (+21%), Mercedes (+34%), Skoda (+34%) and Smart (+39%) also impress. Among smaller brands, Ssangyong (+36%), Alfa Romeo (+121%), Porsche (+40%), Infiniti (+78%), Abarth (+98%) and Maserati (+79%) also surge.

Model-wise, the Seat Leon is back in charge in spite of a 6% drop but holds just 2.6% of its home market vs. 3% so far this year, denoting a very fragmented market this month. It is the first time since last October that the Leon is the best-selling nameplate at home. The VW Polo jumps 35% to 2nd place ahead of the Opel Corsa (-13%), Nissan Qashqai (+7%) and Renault Clio (-8%). Leader last month, the Seat Ibiza plunges 21% to 6th place in May but remains #1 year-to-date with a 833 sales advantage over the Leon for now. The Dacia Sandero (+16%), Opel Astra (+21%) and Peugeot 2008 (+33%) post solid gains inside the Top 10 with the Citroen C3 (+80%) getting ever closer to a Top 10 ranking – now just 24 sales off. The VW Tiguan (+180%) continues to benefit from the new model while the Seat Ateca slides down another 4 spots on last month to #21. This month we welcome the Zaragoza-produced Opel Crossland (#200) and the VW Arteon (#246) in the Spanish sales charts.

Previous month: Spain April 2017: Seat surges 43% to take year-to-date lead

One year ago: Spain May 2016: Opel cements lead with Corsa best-seller

Full April 2017 Top 45 All-brands and Top 290 All-models below.