According to figures provided by the association of car manufacturers (Anfac) during the first ten months of this year 848,555 cars were sold which represents an increase of 9.4% compared to the same period last year. However, in October 61,366 new cars were sold which represents the fourth consecutive monthly fall and compared to car sales during October last year is a fall of 38%. Sales for July, August and September fell by between 24 to 27% compared to the same period last year.

The sale of cars to individuals fell by 50% last month and forecasts for the next few months do not look good. Anfac, believes that sales will not recover next year and forecasts that the sale of new cars in 2011 will not top the 900,000 figure. If this is correct it means that less than a million cars will have been sold for three years in a row – figures which are comparable to the early nineties.

Anfac has warned that if the market does not recover significantly Spain will lose its attractiveness as a car manufacturer given that multinationals prefer countries where the potential market is bigger.