The motoring sector in the Canary Islands continues without any improvement in sales,
despite the implementation of the Renove Plan approved by the Government to encourage buyers.
Individuals, due the uncertainty of their futures and the slowdown in economic activity on the islands,
are delaying purchasing decisions or are opting for second-hand vehicles, while ‘rent a car’, which normally accounts for 30% of sales, has come to a standstill.
Investment has stopped and highlights the stagnation in which the island economy is suffering due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Motorcycles is the only segment that has grown, the same as it did in July.
August figure show 703 units were registered, an increase of 12%. Cars and all-terrain vehicles 2,461 units were sold, 46% less 1,533 are cars and 928 SUVs.
The fall in purchases by rent a car companies is 96%, whereas among individuals it is 28%.
Altho Electric and hybrid purchases increased in August, there were 373 cars and SUVs compared to 284 in 2019.
In August, 2,461 passenger cars and SUVs were sold on the islands,
representing a 46% drop compared to the previous year.
The decline in the Canary Islands is, for the second month in a row,
the highest in the whole of Spain, where registrations fell by 10%.
“The Canarian market, despite the aid, has not just restarted,” said the president of Aconauto Canarias, Manuel Sánchez,
who points out that the lack of tourism is holding back the rest of the economy and with it, the motoring sector.
The president of the Canarian Federation of Automobile Importers and Dealers (Fredica), Rafael Pombriego,
agrees that Covid and new outbreaks are having a greater impact in the Canary Islands.
“with a strong dependence on sales to the tourist sector, mainly the car rental market, continues to be seriously felt here.
This market, with a decline of almost 96%, is all but dead” highlights Pombriego.
The president of Fredica demands that the Government of the Canary Islands support the sector to stimulate and encourage purchases.
Among other measures, it proposes a reduction of IGIC for the next two years in order to promote sales among the population not dependent on tourism.
“It is necessary, from the point of view of the sector, to make this effort in order to try to save companies and with it,
the specialized employment generated by the car industry,” says Pombriego.
Regarding the sector’s forecasts for 2020, Aconauto is predicting to close the year with a fall of close to 50%, with 31,229 cars registered.