It’s been tough, but the automotive industry is starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And after the long journey through the desert that meant a two and a half year drop in sales, Dealers in the province of Alicante chain four positive bears thanks to the slow but gradual improvement in component supply. The greater rhythm of car manufacturing brought with it: average wait time for customers was between four and five months, at the age of one. In any case, the industry hasn’t started ringing the bells yet, given that registrations are 50% lower than in 2019 before the pandemic.
Health crisis brought a break in supply chainsIt had a special impact on the microchip, an indispensable component for the automotive industry. In fact, the lack of these semiconductors meant that vehicle production was idle, resulting in a drastic drop in sales. However, the situation has started to change in recent months and acceleration has been achieved before reaching normal production rates. unblock a large number of stagnant processes.
Thus, the negative trend that has been going on for the last two and a half years reached a turning point in August and continued until November, when the number of registrations increased for four consecutive months. So things In 2022, 29,267 vehicles have been sold in the province so far.represents an increase of 1.04% over the previous year. Of the total, 15,658 are gasoline, up 3.55%, and 9,862 electric, 0.50% more. Declining single segment diesel vehiclesIt remained at 3,747 units after falling 7.07%. Operations, after all, continue to be almost half of those formalized in 2019, so there is still a long way to go.
Also nationwide
The trend in the province of Alicante is very similar to the trend recorded at the national level with the associated four-month growth. The main employers in the industry such as Faconauto, Ganvam and Anfac underline that although they are far from pre-pandemic records, the year will close with 820,000 units sold. Anfac’s director, Félix García, underlines that despite this increase, the microchip crisis and the strong inflation in recent months are still insufficient and determining the needed market rhythm. continue the necessary progress towards zero and low emission vehicles. “This is the only way to lower the high age of the park and thus eliminate vehicles over 15 years old for new ones that contribute to decarbonisation and are safer,” he says.
So what do the dealers in the province think? “Stocks are being regulated. There are more semiconductors, so more cars have been launched and delivery times have been reduced to an average of four to five months,” explains Nacho Juan, marketing manager for Marcos Group. According to him, although there are other dark clouds on the horizon, everything indicates that the supply will improve and the rate of production will also improve, for example “inflation and rising interest rateswhich is of no use to us.
Ángel Gutiérrez from Grupo Sala expresses himself in similar terms, emphasizing that although the pre-pandemic rhythm has not recovered, “the chaos we have experienced in recent years is no longer.” It is noteworthy that the demand remains at acceptable levels. “For the moment, we have not realized the economic disaster that everyone is predicting for this last period of the year.“She states that she is relieved.
The absence of new cars had driven many customers to the used market, but this It also begins to send signs of exhaustion.because vehicles are no longer in good condition or their prices are too high.