Spain Full Year 2020: Dacia Sandero ends 12 consecutive years of Seat domination in market down -32.3%

January 5, 2021
Matt Gasnier

The Dacia Sandero scores its first ever annual win in Spain.

Consult almost 50 years worth of Spanish Historical Data here.

The Spanish new car market ends the 2020 year on a harsh -32.3% fall to just 851.211 units, the lowest annual volume since 2013 (723.936). Private sales outperform the market at -27.1% to 427.378, crossing the symbolic 50% share milestone at 50.2% vs. 46.6% in 2019, with company sales also above the market evolution at -24.4% to 327.732 and 38.5% share vs. 34.5% last year. It’s rental sales that send the overall market tumbling down in the near absence of tourism season in the covid context, freefalling -59.7% from 238.285 and 18.9% share in 2019 to just 96.101 and 11.3% share this year. Looking at sales by region, Aragon (-21.1%), Cantabria (-22.7%), Pais Vasco (-23.9%), Galicia (-24.3%), La rioja (-24.5%), Ceuta y Melilla (-24.9%) and Castilla Leon (-25%) perform best. Madrid is down -31.9% for a 37.1% share of the Spanish market and Cataluña is off -28.7% for a 14.5% share.

The Seat Leon is down to #2 overall.

In the brands ranking, Seat (-38.7%) loses almost one percentage point of share to 8% but manages to stay in pole position. Note 2019 data has been updated to reflect the new source Anfac which doesn’t take into account in the market LCV-based MPVs such as the Peugeot Rifter. Volkswagen (-29.2%) overtakes Peugeot (-32.9%) to snap the 2nd spot overall at 7.8% share while Toyota (-19.7%) passes Renault (-35%) to rank 4th, gaining almost one percentage point of share to 6.8%. Kia (-20%) does the same at 5.6% and climbs 3 ranks to #6. Hyundai (-27.7%) is up one to #7, Mercedes (-21.1%) up 3 to #9 and Dacia (-29.3%) up one to #10. Outside the Top 10, newcomers Cupra (+77.4%) and Dongfeng Sokon (+71%) as well as Lotus (+150%) are the only carmakers in positive while DR Motor (0.0%), DS (-1.5%), Bentley (-3.3%), Land Rover (-12.3%), Volvo (-13.8%), Lexus (-15%), Porsche (-17.8%) and Aston Martin (-19%) resist best.

The Toyota Corolla (#5) helps Toyota to the best hold among the Top 10 brands.

Model-wise, we have a very rare change of guard atop the charts. Thanks to a strong December result at 3.3% share and for the last year of the 2nd generation, the Dacia Sandero (-29.1%) overtakes the Seat Leon (-34.2%) to score its first ever annual win in Spain. Note the Leon was still #1 after 11 months. This ends 6 consecutive years of reign by the Seat Leon and marks the first time in 12 years (since 2008 and the Ford Focus) that a Seat isn’t #1 at home. The Sandero builds on a striking regional dominance, having already topped the sales charts of the 8 regions in 2019 and appearing on the podium of 17 out of 19 regions. The Nissan Qashqai (-34.3%) and Renault Clio (-30.3%) follow like in 2019. The two best performing models in the Top 10 do so thanks to their green variants: the Toyota Corolla (-1.5%) and Hyundai Kona (-2.1%) are both up 19 spots to #5 and #10 respectively. The Peugeot 2008 (-24.9%) is now the brand’s best-seller, up 5 ranks on last year to #7 and toppling the 3008 (-37.1%) which remains at #8. Leader up to 2013, the Seat Ibiza (-54.9%) completely implodes in 2020, going from #5 to #24 even though its “SUV variant” the Arona (-38.9%) also drops faster than the market at #6 overall. The Ford Puma (#35) is by far the best-selling 2020 launch.

Spain monthly year-on-year evolution. Source: ANFAC