Portugal boasts EU's second highest rise in car sales

The Portugal News - While car sales dropped by 5.5 percent throughout the rest of Europe, last year Portugal enjoyed a healthy rise in the number of people buying passenger vehicles, outdone only by Ireland.Based on last year's performance experts predict 2011 will be an "extremely competitive" year.

Of all 27 EU state-members Portugal's car sales were surpassed only by sales in Ireland.

Data supplied from the European Association for Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA), which documented EU car sales throughout 2010, confirmed sales in Portugal have been steadily growing since the beginning of last year.

Since January 2010 the national market has been leading the way in sales and has registered the quickest growth.

Portugal's performance could however, be somewhat explained by comparing last years figures with 2009's, which was described as a "black year".

That year sales fell by 25 percent, in comparison to 2008, leading industry experts to deem 2009 as Portugal's worst year for car sales in 22 years.

Twelve months later and it has been concluded that 2010 was the most positive year in eight years in terms of passenger vehicles sold. Last year approximately 223,491 new cars were sold.

The last time such figures were registered was at the beginning of this century, when in 2002 new sales totaled 228,574, in 2001 sales reached 255,244 units, and in 2000 they soared to 295,490 vehicles.

Nonetheless, the industry was still surprised by last year's rise in sales. In December alone sales increased by 62 percent, representing 12.5 percent of the year's total. Manufacturers suggest imminent tax rises could have spurred people to buy now before a new car becomes more costly.

Another contributing factor could be the eradication of financial incentives to scrap cars that are ten years old or older. As of this year such incentives are available only for those looking to trade in their old car for an electric one.

Nonetheless manufacturers view the next few months with pessimism and foresee the onset of fierce competition amongst brands.

"It will be an extremely competitive year" said spokesmen for Peugeot Portugal, Jorge Magalhães. He concluded “The biggest doubts are about March and April, particularly regarding purchases made by rent-a-car companies.”