The secretary general of the Automobile Association of Portugal, Hélder Barata Pais referring to recent figures for new car sales in Portugal, explained today that after being in decline since 2012, it is normal that any increase will be far steeper here than in countries where the market for new cars has been more stable.
In an interview on Radio Renaissance today, Barata Pais said "The EU average was 25 cars per thousand of population, in Portugal we sold 14, in Austria 34 and in Germany 38. This puts the numbers into perspective - we are far from other European markets. So, one thing is the percentage change and the other is the market volume."
New cars traditionally are the second largest investment after buying a house but the trend now is for Portuguese to buy smaller and cheaper cars with better fuel consumption and lower emissions. Hence, “turnover does not mean market growth," added Barata Pais.
This seems to be born out by lower fuel sales to private individuals which fell 10.7% in the first quarter of 2015 compared to last year, with supermarket filling stations the preferred choice by canny consumers.
The Portuguese Association of Distribution Companies’ Director General Ana Isabel Trigo Morais reported today that "There was a drop of 10.7% in sales volume in the first three months of the year, to €803 million.”
"The filling stations belonging to supermarkets are now the market leaders and are the consumers’ choice, even after the recent change in the legislative framework," said Trigo Morais.
According to the latset Kantar Worldpanel study, the supermarket filling stations had a first quarter market share of 28.4% in volume and 27% in value.
"Consumers continue to prefer the fuel that is sold at supermarket filling stations,” and each fill up is now 10% higher than a year ago.
This means that "consumers are very sensitive to price and are becoming more enlightened when they make their choices" she said.
After the imposition by the government of ‘low-cost’ fuels at all main filling stations, premium fuel sales have declined sharply.
Trigo Moras said the previous consumer worries over the quality of supermarket fuels "which were once called into question, is now a non-issue - it never made sense anyway.”
