Spain October 2020: Dacia Sandero leads again, Seat Arona up to record #2 in worsening market (-21%)

The Seat Arona is up to a record 2nd place at home in October.

After falling -10.1% in August and -13.5% in September as the country is in the midst of a second coronavirus wave of infections, October data indicates a further deterioration of the Spanish market with overall sales down -21% year-on-year to 74.228 units. This leads to a year-to-date tally down -36.8% to 669.662 units and as a result we have amended our 2020 Spain Forecast down from 875.000 (-33%) last month to 846.000 (-35%) this month. Unlike similar markets such as France and Italy, Spanish private sales fall slightly faster than the market at -22.7% to 37.974 for the month, a further indicator the market isn’t going in the right direction. Company sales are off -15.5% to 33.370 units while rental sales remain dismal at -46.2% to just 2.884. Year-yo-date, private sales are down -30.6% to 336.777 with company sales off an almost identical -30.8% to 248.369 while rental sales crumble -60.8% to 84.516.

In the brands ranking, local behemoth Seat (-15.7%) resists better than its home market to lift to 9.2% share, one full percentage point above its YTD level, while Peugeot (-21%) matches the market at #2 but Volkswagen (-29.3%), last month’s leader, struggles mightily. Dacia (-11.2%) posts the “best” hold in the Top 10 followed by Mercedes (-13.9%), Renault (-15.8%), Toyota (-16.8%) and Citroen (-19.2%) just as Kia (-21.6%) matches the market roughly and Hyundai (-26.7%) freefalls. Audi (+3%), Skoda (+1.6%) and Fiat (+1.2%) are the only gainers in the Top 20 while further down, Ssangyong (+87.1%), Cupra (+22.9%), Suzuki (+11.3%), Subaru (+7.1%) and DS (+1.6%) stand out.

Model-wise, the Dacia Sandero (-21.9%) returns to pole position for the 4th time this year but this is still not enough to grab the YTD lead off the Seat Leon (-21.4%), itself down to #3 in October, at 18.247 sales so far in 2020 for the Sandero vs. 18.615 for the Leon. The Seat Arona (+13.9%) rallies back up 21 spots on September to rank #2 overall at home, equalling its record ranking also hit in June 2019. The Toyota Corolla (-8.7%) is up 14 ranks on last month to #4 overall, distancing the Peugeot 3008 (-16.3%), Nissan Qashqai (-31.3%) and Peugeot 2008 (-25.3%). The Renault Captur (+27.5%) and Dacia Duster (+17.4%), up 36 spots on September to #9, are the only additional gainers in the Top 10. The Ford Puma tops recent launches at #22.

Previous month: Spain September 2020: Seat Leon #1, Hyundai Kona, VW T-Cross hit records in deteriorating market (-13.5%)

One year ago: Spain October 2019: Dacia Sandero reclaims lead, Kia Xceed shines in market up 8.4%

Full October 2020 Top 50 All-brands and Top 270 All-models below.