New year, time to "close the accounts" in relation to car sales in Portugal in 2019. Although total market sales — light and heavy passenger and goods — have increased by 9.8% in December , in the accumulated (January-December), there was a decrease of 2.0% compared to 2018.
The data provided by ACAP – Associação Automóvel de Portugal, when separated into the four categories, reveals declines of 2.0% and 2.1% between passenger cars and light goods, respectively; and a decrease of 3.1% and a rise of 17.8% between heavy goods and passengers, respectively.
In total, 223,799 passenger cars, 38,454 light goods, 4974 heavy goods and 601 heavy passenger cars were sold during 2019.
The best selling brands
Focusing on car sales in Portugal with regard to passenger cars, the podium of the best-selling brands is formed by Renault, Peugeot and Mercedes-Benz . Renault sold 29 014 units, a decrease of 7.1% compared to 2018; Peugeot saw its sales rise to 23,668 units (+3.0%), while Mercedes-Benz rose slightly to 16 561 units (+0.6%).
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If we add sales of light commercial vehicles, it is the citron which assumes the status of 3rd best-selling brand in Portugal, with the two scenarios replicating exactly what happened in 2018, in terms of market leaders.
The 10 most sold brands in light vehicles are ordered as follows: Renault, Peugeot, Mercedes-Benz, Fiat, Citroën, BMW, SEAT, Volkswagen, Nissan and Opel.
winners and losers
Among the rises of 2019, the highlight was the Hyundai , with an increase of 33.4% (6144 units and 14th best-selling brand). smart, Mazda, Jeep and SEAT they also registered expressive double-digit increases: 27%, 24.3%, 24.2% and 17.6%, respectively.
Mention is also given to the explosive rise (and not yet closed) of the Porsche which has 749 registered units, which corresponds to an increase of 188% (!) — the absolute number of units does not seem like much, but even so it sold more in 2019 than the DS, Alfa Romeo and Land Rover , for example.
Another mention of the Tesla which, despite the published figures are not yet definitive, registered approximately 2000 units sold in our country.
On a downward trajectory in car sales in Portugal, there were many brands in this group — the market closed negatively, as we have already mentioned — but some fell more than others.
Highlight, not for the best reasons, for the Alfa Romeo , which saw its sales cut in half (49.9%). Unfortunately, it was not the only one to fall significantly in 2019: nissan (-32.1%), Land Rover (-24.4%), Honda (-24.2%), Audi (-23.8%), opel (-19.6%), Volkswagen (-16.4%), DS (-15.8%) and mini (-14.3%) also saw the trajectory of sales going in the wrong direction.