Light commercial vehicles in Spain saw two consecutive monthly declines, meaning that the year-to-year sales for 2021 fell below 2020 levels. Buses also saw a near double-digit decrease although industrial vehicles did score higher sales than in 2020, offering some optimism for the industry, in figures released by la Asociación Española de Farbicantes de Automóviles y Camiones, or ANFAC (the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers).
Commercial Vehicles Sales In Second Half of Year Undo Initial Gains in First-Half of 2021
After the first six months of 2021, light commercial vehicles were nearly 40% above the corresponding sales for 2020. With several significant drops during the second half of the year, the market fell a mere per cent below 2020 levels in December. With another 35% drop in sales for December, the market has ended 2021 4% below 2020 or 151,822 units against 158,120 units. In December, sales reached 10,838, a third lower than the 16,629 registrations for December 2020.
Industrial vehicles saw a much healthier trajectory in 2021, with sales beating out the weakened-2020. In 2020, sales amounted to 19,242 units, whereas in 2021, the final total registered was 20,801 units, which makes for a pleasing 8.1% increase on the year to year results. Sales also saw a minor upswing in December 2021, with a total of 1,506 vehicles registered for the month – a 2.2% increase on December 2020.
Buses fell slightly on 2020 levels. In December, the market saw a bracing 36.4% drop, with only 180 registrations. For the twelve months, sales reached 1,959, which amounted to a 9.8% drop over 2020’s 2,171 buses registrations, although the issue of fewer bus registration is an issue occurring across Europe.
With the pandemic, supply chain problems and semiconductor shortages hurting the industry, industry insiders will hope for a calmer 2022.
