It wasn’t a stellar year, but the situation did not deteriorate. Dealers from Alicante helped avert steeper declines, registering nationwide with a modest uptick driven by a tourism rebound and a recovering provincial economy. The coastal areas hardest hit by pandemic shutdowns and ongoing supply delays for producers showed the most improvement.
Nationally, passenger car and SUV sales fell 5.4% year over year to 813,396 units. In contrast, Alicante’s dealers managed to salvage activity with 31,886 transactions, roughly half of pre-pandemic levels. Still, this marks a small improvement of 0.7% after two consecutive declines, based on figures from industry employers Anfac, Faconauto, and Ganvam.
Notably, the improvement comes from several factors: 9,576 fleet acquisitions in a 28.2% rise in rental fleets, and in particular a surge in special purchases to 16,801 transactions, up 8.6%. This pattern signals a robust local economic recovery in the region this year.
By comparison, self-driving car rental operations—rent-a-car services—fell 36.8% to 5,509, far from their traditional share of the regional market where these operators once accounted for nearly half.
The shift isn’t due to a lack of demand. Rather, it reflects a market reset. A persistent supply shortage and limited production mean many manufacturers prefer diverting vehicles to private sales and leasing rather than large orders, allowing these brands to maintain higher margins amid discounting by big leasing companies.
Tourism
From the face-to-face input of the Faconauto dealers’ association, the improved situation in Alicante is tied closely to broader economic activity and tourism along the coast. Regions such as the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, and Malaga also closed the year with positive figures, reinforcing a regional trend.
Regional businesses confirm the link: demand from individuals tracks with the economy. The owner of a Ford dealership in Benidorm described a meaningful improvement, calling the year’s performance acceptable and noting a clear recovery in activity.
Nevertheless, industry leaders caution that challenges persist. Two years of disruptions have left timelines stretched, with delays in new-vehicle deliveries often exceeding six months when customers reject all available alternatives.
Electric Cars
Perez adds that questions about the electric transition continue to affect decisions for many buyers, particularly due to the limited charging infrastructure. Yet Autonáutica’s owner remains optimistic that 2023 will see rising registrations, driven by a need to replace aging fleets and by shifting preferences toward electrified options.
Other regional dealers anticipate that new regulations will further shift demand. Stricter rules aimed at limiting the most polluting vehicles in cities with populations over 50,000 are seen as an added incentive for higher sales, according to Antonia Solo, the KIA dealer in Benidorm.
Chip Crisis Delays Delivery of Trucks to Carriers
Meanwhile, most dealers have offset the revenue declines with a surge in after-sales workload, especially in service workshops, as observed by Sola.
The data point to a clear shift in market dynamics. Diesel cars accounted for only 12.46% of registrations in the region last year, while gasoline vehicles remain dominant at about 53%. Hybrid, electric, and gas-powered models together now represent roughly 34.47% of Alicante’s total sales, indicating a broader diversification in consumer preferences.
In the Alicante province, KIA and Hyundai lead the pack. Anfac, Faconauto, and Ganvam report 4,645 registrations for KIA last year, followed by Hyundai with 3,649. Citroën and Peugeot each posted around 2,484, Toyota 1,916, Dacia 1,785, Opel 1,631, Renault 1,491, and Volkswagen 1,337. This spread reflects ongoing supply constraints that hit European brands particularly hard in chip availability and materials since the post-pandemic recovery began, whereas Korean and Japanese brands—having their own supply chains—faced fewer shortages. Transportation challenges for moving finished vehicles added to the complexity of the market mix.