Uncertainty, logistics crisis and transition to the electric vehicle, the perfect storm for car sales

 Sales of passenger cars plummeted in 2021: only 6,369 in Tarragona, the worst figure in a century

During 2022, 6,369 passenger cars were sold in Tarragona, almost 13% less than the previous year, where a 29% drop was already recorded. A far cry from the more than 20,000 vehicles that were sold before 2008, but also from the more than 11,000 that were registered once the market, starting in 2015, recovered from the great financial crisis. The off-road market, a trend in recent years, is better able to withstand the onslaught of a situation that is the perfect storm for this sector.

Emili Beltran, general secretary of ASTAVE, the sector's employers' association in Tarragona, points out that "the general situation of the economy greatly affects sales, and with a landscape dominated by ERTOs, wage restraint and uncertainty, it is logical that the consumer postpones the purchase decision". A situation that the administrations do not contribute to, according to Beltran, "betting on the electric vehicle, which is clearly the future, but which right now is not viable on a large scale". The representative of the automotive business association believes that "we are faced with a rhetorical and unrealistic discourse" that generates "additional doubts for consumers, who are not clear on which mode of motorization to bet on".

A third ingredient in this cocktail is the global logistics crisis, which complicates the entire supply chain and ends up causing delays in vehicle delivery times. A fact that also has a negative impact on the willingness of buyers. Beltran acknowledges that "in recent months many operations have been canceled due to the impossibility of meeting the deadlines, even returning the payment and signal for many operations".

Administrations that do not help

The automotive sector demands from the Administration that the incentive plans do not only encourage electric vehicles, since "those looking for another modality because the electric vehicle is not a good solution for their mobility end up looking in the market used, and this causes the opposite effect at an environmental level, since they are older vehicles that pollute more," argues Beltran.

The automotive sector also calls for simpler legislative frameworks that reduce "the bureaucratic burden that we have to face for companies that are small and that have to bear a very burdensome workload that complicates their day-to-day life" .