Car sales fall back to 1986 levels

We said goodbye to 2012 as one of the worst years in recent times: unemployment has risen, they have stripped us down to the bone, and a long list of other woes that has no place on this blog. All these economic problems have spread until they reached our world, that of cars: In Spain just 699,589 vehicles were sold in 2012, a figure very similar to the 689,076 cars sold in 1986.

Year after year car sales keep falling, and this year they have dropped 13.4% compared with 2011, which had already fallen 17.7%. The years 2004-2008, when more than a million and a half cars were registered each year, already seem like they belong to another world. Everything exploded in 2008, when sales fell by 28.1%.

Volkswagen takes the top spot

As you can see in the chart, Volkswagen has moved into first place in cars sold, with a total of 62,490 units, at the expense of Seat, which this year was the second most sought-after brand. As for models, the French Megane and C4 are the most in-demand among buyers, with 30,146 and 27,790 units respectively. By segment, the “small” category sold the most vehicles, with 194,616 units.

Failure of the PIVE Plan

PIVE Plan: The Government gives €1,000 and the brands another €1,000 so you can buy a new car, scrapping your old one, for under €25,000. On paper it sounds fine, but in practice… It is curious that while the plan was in force, sales fell by more than 20% compared with the same months of 2011.