Spain September 2021: Fiat 500 tops market down -15.7%

The Fiat 500 is the best-selling vehicle in Spain in September.

As the microchip crisis continues, the Spanish new car market slows down its fall in September at -15.7% year-on-year to 59.641 units, in line with our projections and compared to a -28.9% fall in August. The year-to-date tally is now up 8.8% to 647.955 units, and we at BSCB anticipate a Full Year 2021 volume up 3% to 881.000 sales. This month private sales fall -21.8% year-on-year to 28.593 and 47.9% share vs. 51.7% a year ago, company sales are off -15.3% to 25.675 and 43% share vs. 42.9% in September 2020 and rental sales surge 39.6% to 5.373 and 9% share vs. 5.4% a year ago. Year-to-date, private sales are actually down -11.2% year-on-year to 265.322 and 40.9% share vs. 50.2% over the same period in 2020, company sales are up 12.2% to 241.329 and 37.2% share vs. 36.1% a year ago and rental sales soar 73.1% to 141.304 and 21.8% share vs. 13.7% in 2020.

In the brands ranking, Seat (-2%) rallies back up four spots on August to reclaim the pole position it holds year-to-date with 8.9% vs. 9.1% YTD. Kia (+3.3%) edges up one rank on last month to hit a record 2nd place (also reached in August 2018) with 7.8% share vs. 6.4% so far this year. Hyundai (+8.9%) posts the largest gain in the Top 9 to rank at an outstanding 3rd place with 7.6% of the market vs. 6.1% year-to-date. The next four carmakers all fall faster than the market, with Volkswagen (-42.3%) and Toyota (-33.9%) hit the hardest and Renault (-21.4%) and Peugeot (-16%) also suffering. Fiat (+24.2%) is the best performer in the Top 10, up 7 spots on August to #10 while BMW (+7.5%) is up three to #8 and also manages a year-on-year gain. Further down, Cupra (+897.8%), Tesla (+150.3%) and Ssangyong (+80.8%) stand out.

Model-wise, the Top 4 best-sellers all post fantastic gains. The Fiat 500 (+155.2%) is up 21 spots on last month to become the best-selling vehicle in the country for the second time in the past 4 months and ever at a fantastic 3.7% share, potentially helped by rental sales. Leader year-to-date, the Seat Arona (+114.1%) bounces back up 12 ranks on August to land at #2 with a market share superior to its year-to-date level at 3.1% vs. 2.7%. The Peugeot 2008 (+44.3%) lurches up a whopping 50 spots on last month to end September on the third step of the podium, its best result since last April (#3 also). Finally the Hyundai Tucson (+59.2%) continues to evolve at markedly higher levels than a year ago thanks to the new generation, cementing its 2nd place year-to-date vs. #19 over the Full Year 2020. Leader over the past two months, the Dacia Sandero (-30.6%) falls back to earth in 5th place in September, remaining #3 year-to-date. The Seat Ibiza (+81.6%), Hyundai i20 (+34.8%) and Citroen C3 (+27.9%) all impress in the remainder of the Top 10 while the Renault Clio (+5%) is back up 30 spots to #6.

Previous month: Spain August 2021: Sales off -28.9%, Toyota leads for first time, Hyundai up to record #2, Sandero repeats at #1

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

Full September 2021 Top 50 All-brands and Top 285 All-models below.