Portugal August 2019: Mercedes A-Class (+27.8%), Citroen C3 (+39.1%) top market in WLTP hangover (-19%)

The Mercedes A-Class repeats at #1 in Portugal.

The Portuguese new car market is logically hit by WLTP hangover in August at a paltry -19% year-on-year to 12.435 registrations as year-ago sales were boosted by pre-WLTP stock clearances. The year-to-date volume is now down -6.1% to 159.466. Having already made its lineup WLTP-ready by this time last year, Peugeot (+1.5%) isn’t affected by the hangover and takes the led of the brands ranking in August for the 4th time in the past 12 months. Same story for Mercedes (+10.2%) up one spot on July and its YTD ranking to #2. However for Renault (-57.2%), Nissan (-50.4%) as well as Opel (-44%), Fiat (-27.5%), Volkswagen (-20.9%), Seat (-15.3%) and Toyota (-15.3%) the hangover is severe. Citroen (+17.6%) on the other hand posts the largest gain in the Top 15 and climbs up to #4 overall, with Dacia (+11%), Ford (+6.7%) and BMW (+1.5%) the rare other brands posting an uptick near the top. Further down, Suzuki (+40.7%), Porsche (+28%), Jaguar (+24.5%), Volvo (+21.1%), Mitsubishi (+21.1%) and Skoda (+14.9%) stand out.

Model-wise, the Mercedes A-Class (+27.8%) brilliantly repeats at #1, signing a 4th win in the past 12 month but remaining at a still very impressive #3 YTD. The Citroen C3 (+39.1%) is up 10 spots on July to #2, distancing the Renault Clio (-66.8%), Peugeot 308 (+24.5%), 2008 (+8.2%) and 208 (-30.4%). The Dacia Sandero (+104.5%), Mercedes C-Class (+90.6%), BMW 2 Series (+43.7%) and Fiat Tipo (+22.4%) also impress in the remainder of the Top 20. The VW T-Cross is up 17 ranks on last month to #22, the most popular new launch ahead of the Citroen C5 Aircross (#56), Tesla Model 3 (#98) and Opel Zafira Life (#123), new for the month.

Previous month: Portugal July 2019: Renault Captur breaks share record, threatens Clio for #1

One year ago: Portugal August 2018: Pre-WLTP boosted Renault Clio and Megane repeat on top

Full August 2019 Top 40 All-brands and Top 260 All-models below.