Number of new cars registered up 7% in 2017

The number of new cars registered in Catalonia went up 7% in 2017, to 190,480 vehicles. According to figures released by the association of automobile manufacturers on Tuesday, sales in Catalonia made up 15.4% of the 1.2 million new vehicles registered in Spain in 2017.

Car sales to individuals experienced the least growth last year (4.4%), while the increase in newly registered vehicles sold to companies and rental firms was considerably higher than in 2016, at 12.8% and 9.2%, respectively.

The association called 2017 a “good year” but also warned that the average age of registered vehicles in circulation is “very high”, at 12 years, which means that a large number of vehicles in use “pollute a lot more and are less safe.”

The business association also pointed out that the 1.23 million new vehicles registered in Spain in 2017 merely account for a rise of 6.4% over the number of new cars registered in 2008, when the recession began. “If we compare 2017 with 2007, which ended with 1.6 million registrations, we would still be 23.5% below the market figures achieved before the financial crisis,” said the director of communications of the Anfac association, Adolfo Randulfe.