Spain May 2024: Rental sales push market up 3.4%, Citroen C3 best-seller for the first time

Dealerships rush to register the outgoing generation of Citroen C3

New car sales in Spain gain 3.4% year-on-year in May to 95,158 units, leading to a year-to-date tally up 6.8% to 431,884. The 5 months figure however remains -23% below the same period in pre-pandemic 2019. Notably, 9,180 rechargeable vehicles (BEV+PHEV) were registered, a -11.9% year-on-year loss to 9.6% share two percentage points below its year-ago level. Year-to-date rechargeable sales increase by 3.5% to 45,154 units or 10.4% share vs. 10.8% over the same period in 2023. For May, private sales augment 2.5% to 37,421, company sales drop -10.9% to 30,138 while rental cars account for the majority of the overall lift at +27.1% to 27,599. Year-to-date, private sales are up 8% to 178,583, company sales down -12.2% to 143,316 and rental sales soar 45.3% to 109,985. In terms of regions, Madrid (+10.5%) scores the 2nd largest gain, and given it accounts for 51.2% of the market it almost single-handedly pushes the overall sales up. Baleares is the most dynamic at +27.7%.

In the brands ranking, Toyota (+4.4%) remains ultra dominant at 8.6% share, almost two percentage points above the #2, Hyundai (+11.6%). Peugeot (-6.6%) is in difficulty year-on-year but rallies back up four spots on April to #3. It advances to #4 year-to-date and distances Volkswagen (-4.6%), Renault (-6.3%) and Kia (-15.2%) all losing ground. Seat (+4.4%) edges past the market growth but ranks at a lowly #7 vs. #2 year-to-date. Once again Citroen (+22.5%) is in great shape at #8 followed by Dacia (+3.8%) and Mercedes (+6.7%). BMW (+35.5%), Nissan (+64.3%), Volvo (+55%) and Ssangyong (+856.9%) stand out below. Chinese Omoda is up to #25 with 0.8% share.

Model-wise, the Citroen C3 (+505.8%) brilliantly takes the lead for the first time in the nameplate’s history in Spain. This performance doesn’t signal a sudden surge of popularity but rather the large amount of registrations of the outgoing generation which doesn’t meet the upcoming GSR2 EU safety norms. The Peugeot 2008 (+104.8%) surges 19 spots on last month to #2, toppling the Dacia Sandero (-10.2%) and Renault Clio (-15.7%). The Hyundai Tucson (+12.1%) is up four ranks to #5 ahead of the Toyota Corolla (-1.8%) and Opel Corsa (+2.9%). The Seat Ibiza (+34.9%) soars year-on-year but drops six spots on last month to #8. The Kia Sportage (-0.6%) is stable in 9th place while the MG ZS (-12.8%) skids to #10. Below, notice the Toyota RAV4 (+191.7%), BMW X1 (+115.7%), Ford Focus (+77.9%) and Nissan Qashqai (+60.6%) all in excellent shape.

Previous month: Spain April 2024: Citroen C3, Toyota Yaris outstanding in market up 23.1%

One year ago: Spain May 2023: Dacia Sandero #1, MG ZS repeats at #6

Full May 2024 Top 58 All brands and Top 310 All models below.