Car sales point to their best year in the post-covid era after the ‘acceleration’ of electric cars

The Spanish automobile market maintains its foot on the accelerator. October closed with a 16% growth in registrations of passenger cars compared to the same month of the previous year, reaching almost 100,000 units (96,785), according to data shared this Monday by the sector’s employers’ associations -Anfac, Ganvam and Faconauto-. It is the second consecutive month in which sales exceed pre-pandemic levels, for the first time since the health crisis broke out.

In the first ten months of the year More than 951,000 passenger cars have been sold14.9% more than in 2024. Forecasts indicate that 2025 could end with more than 1.1 million units sold, a level that has not been reached since before Covid. The market returns, little by little, to cruising speed.

Much of that push comes from the pull of electrified vehicles. Electric and plug-in hybrid models added 21,687 units in October, 22% of the total for the monthwhich represents an increase of 119% compared to the previous year. So far this year, sales of cars with plugs have doubled and now represent 19% of the market.

Technological change is also perceived in consumer behavior. Individuals have once again been the most dynamic channel, with a 23.9% increase in their purchases, while companies increased by 10.2%. Only the rental market registered a decline of 5.2%, in line with the slowdown in autumn tourism.

“October maintains the positive market trend and confirms the recovery above 2019 levels,” emphasizes Félix García, Anfac spokesperson. “Citizens and companies are increasingly betting on electrified models, while diesel is already a residual option,” he points out. García highlights that the dynamism of the market in recent months invites optimism: “We can close the year around 1.12 or 1.13 million passenger cars sold”.

The concessionaires, on the other hand, express their concern about “the little visibility we have regarding the continuity of aid in those regions or autonomous communities where the budget has been exhausted.” Its spokesman, Raúl Morales, projects an annual market of 1.2 million registrations “if this trend and the contribution to the market of the autonomous communities where they exist are maintained.”