Portugal August 2020: Renault (+56.1%) and Hyundai (+74.8%) impress in stabilised market (-0.1%)

The Renault Clio remains the best-selling vehicle in Portugal.

Contrary to the majority of European markets we have covered so far, Portuguese new car sales improve on July to end August virtually immobile year-on-year at -0.1% to 12.417 units, that’s only 18 sales less than in August 2019. The year-to-date volume is now down -42% to 92.474. The Top 4 brands for the month all post positive results, led by Renault surging 56.1% to 13.4% share vs. 12.4% so far in 2020. Peugeot (+9.5%) and Mercedes (+16.4%) ensure the podium is identical to July while BMW (+0.6%) and Citroen (-24.6%) round out a Top 5 identical to YTD. Hyundai (+74.8%) scores the largest gain in the Top 10, Nissan (+3.3%) also edges up while Fiat (-1.2%) and Ford (-1.8%) contain their loss but Volkswagen (-19.1%) dives. Further down, Tesla (+101.5%), DS (+43.3%), Jeep (+42%), Porsche (+34.4%) and Volvo (+29.5%) stand out with splendid gains.

Model-wise, the Renault Clio (+119.8%) retains the top spot ahead of the Mercedes A-Class (+28.3%) with the Peugeot 308 (+54.2%) leaping onto the podium above the Renault Captur (+139.4%) and Peugeot 208 (-6.3%). The BMW 1 Series soars 358.2% or almost 5-fold on August 2019 to land in 7th place overall thanks to the new generation and the VW Polo (+25%) and Ford Focus (+5.1%) also post upticks in the remainder of the Top 10 but the Citroen C3 (-33.2%) and Nissan Qashqai (-11.1%) aren’t that lucky. Just outside the Top 10, the Hyundai i20 (+183.8%), Volvo XC40 (+154.1%) and Hyundai Kauai (+58.3%) sparkle. The Ford Puma (#45) tops recent launches above the Mazda CX-30 (#67) and Mercedes GLB (#69) and we welcome the Mazda MX-30 at #135.

Previous month: Portugal July 2020: Ford (+4.6%), Volvo (+7.2%) edge up, volumes remain sluggish (-17.5%)

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

Full August 2020 Top 40 All-brands and Top 280 All-models below.