Despite the strengthening of new and used vehicles, with a percentage of 4.5% and 3.8%, respectively, they are still far from the increase in energy demand, which increased by 30% in the first half of the year, according to data from Autoscout24. , Sumauto is a specialist vehicle portal based on data from Google.
Spanish concern about the electricity and gas bill goes back a long way. At the end of the year, when the beginning of winter occurred, 108% had already risen, while those for new vehicles fell by 14%, and used vehicles slightly more, 15%. In this scenario of high growth and high interest rates, Spaniards think twice about changing their car and what they do out of necessity, which is why 8 out of 10 purchases are made for this reason.
But only 15% of current car purchases are aspirational. Nor does it have the power to enter the Low Emission Zone in 149 cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, which affect more than 3.7 million unregistered cars, yet they require a large margin, since they stimulate only 5% of purchases. All this in a somewhat stagnant market, with an increase of 3.2% in used sales and 32.1% in new sales so far this year, far from the pre-pandemic figures (-24%).
Sports cars are made of large vehicles. If the average salary of Spaniards exceeds 25,000 coins (INE), the price to pay for a new car is more than 23,000 coins (Tax Agency), while the amount of electrified versions also exceeds 30,000 coins. In order to respond to their mobility, the Spanish are betting on “mileurista” vehicles over 20 years or switching to LPG combustion vehicles, with the ECO label, which registered an increase of 36.5% in our country by 2022.
According to Ignacio García Rojí, the spokesman of Autoscout24, “paying close to 1,000 euros a year is more worrying than a year of 8,000-9,000 cash in the car bill. There is a latent demand that waits for better prices to come. Now, the search for vehicles, whether new or used, is growing, it is a sign aspiration to be preserved”.
