The situation of the production capacity of factories, both Spanish and European, is still aggravated by the conflict in Ukraine related to the shortage of microchips and other various components, as well as by rising energy prices. This context has led to 262,737 fewer units being produced compared to 2019, the pre-pandemic year, which represents a decrease of 26%.
Car production in Spain is again in the red, with a 10.3% decline in April compared to the same month in 2021, with a total of 168,396 units produced. The lack of fundamental components for vehicle manufacturing, derived from the effects of the pandemic, also exacerbated by the invasion of Ukraine, has led to a significant drop of 15.4% in the first four months of the year with 718,850 units produced in total.
By vehicle type, passenger cars recorded a lower decline in April than commercial and industrial vehicles. Specifically, passenger car production declined 4.1% with 141,495 units, while commercial and industrial vehicle production showed a larger decline of 33.3%, with 26,901 units.
In the month of April, vehicle exports fell by 9.3% compared to the same month of 2021, with 144,398 units exported. In the first quarter, exports fell by 16.1% compared to the same period of the previous year, with 609,369 vehicles shipped outside our borders.
Foreign markets, especially those in Europe, continue to record very low sales and are still failing to recover pre-pandemic registration levels due to vehicle shortages and the political and economic instability of the environment. In the month of April, exports to European markets accounted for 7 out of 10 vehicles of the total number of units shipped outside our borders, with a 9.5% decrease in the delivery volume compared to the same month of the previous year.
The main markets in Europe registered a drop in sales volume of more than 15% in the fourth month. This has led to a decline in demand for domestically produced vehicles, with France (-36.4%), Italy (-11.8%) and Turkey standing out, characterized by their high demand, which increased by 12.1% falls.
As for the top 5 export destinations, the United Kingdom and Germany managed to increase their demand for vehicles “made in Spain”, focusing on the German case which grew by 25.8% and recaptured the first position in this ranking .
The production of alternative vehicles (electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, non-plug-in hybrids, LPG and natural gas) reached 23,109 units produced in April, an increase of 3.7% compared to the same month of the previous year. Thus, alternative vehicles continue to increase their production share, reaching 13.7% of total national production in the fourth month.
In the month of April, the share of electrified vehicles (BEVs and PHEVs) increased by 3 percentage points compared to the same month of the previous year, reaching 13.1% of total production and representing almost all production of alternative vehicles.
In the past month, a total of 21,977 vehicles were added, after a growth of 27.1%. In total for the year, they collect 81,824 units produced, 21% more, representing 11.4% of total production.
As for the type of vehicle, in the month of April pure electric vehicles are the only ones to manage to grow, doubling their production compared to the same month of the previous year with 10,142 units, of which 8,572 are passenger cars. Plug-in hybrids, for their part, fell slightly by 4.4%, with 11,835 units, all passenger cars.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
