Bulgaria September 2020: Renault (+106.9%), Peugeot (+60.5%) buck 8th straight double-digit drop (-11.6%)

  Renault sales more than double year-on-year in September in Bulgaria.

New light vehicle sales in Bulgaria endure an 8th consecutive month of double-digit year-on-year drops in September at -11.6% to 2.197 registrations, leading to a year-to-date volume down -37.9% to 20.250. Renault (+106.9%) completely bucks the trend and surges ahead in the brands ranking with 13.7% share, cementing its YTD pole position at 11.9%. Toyota (+5.6%) is also up and gains 4 spots on August to #2 but 2019 leader Dacia (-25.2%) struggles down to #3. Peugeot (+60.5%) posts a sumptuous result as do Opel (+54.5%) and Ford (+22.1%) in the remainder of the Top 10. Kia (+3.5%) also manages an uptick but Nissan (-48.2%), Skoda (-10.2%) and Volkswagen (-3.5%) aren’t so lucky.

Because of lower prices than in the rest of the European Union, Bulgaria is with Lithuania the epicentre of re-export practices on the continent, with 10.8% (2.195) of all cars registered so far this year never seeing Bulgarian roads. They are instead on-sold for a profit as 0km used in other, dearer parts of the Union. The most aggressive culprits of re-exporting their cars out of Bulgaria in 2020 are Nissan with a huge 62.1% of its registrations never actually seeing the highways of the country, Bentley at 50%, Infiniti at 30%, Citroen at 23.6%, Alfa Romeo at 23.3%, Fiat at 21.2%, Kia at 17.7%, Dacia at 12.1% and Renault at 10%,

For the first time since December 2016 we have access to a year-to-date models ranking for Bulgaria. Hopefully we will be able to shift to complete monthly models data for this market from now on. It shows the Nissan Qashqai in the lead with 6% share but given the brand’s record re-export rate, the true best-seller should instead be the Renault Clio, Skoda Octavia or Dacia Dokker which follow in the ranking. The Dacia Duster rounds out the Top 5, with the Toyota Corolla, Citroen C3, Dacia Sandero and Toyota Yaris also making it into the Top 10.

Previous month: Bulgaria August 2020: Kia (+52.6%), Peugeot (+7.6%) defy market thrown into disarray again (-42.2%)

One year ago: Bulgaria September 2019: Nissan (+410.2%), Fiat (+416.7%) surge in market up 3.7%

Full September 2020 Top 35 All-brands and January-September Top 280 All-models below.