Spain will fall short of 2.3 million vehicles manufactured this year

The Spanish automotive industry recorded a 5.4% decline in vehicle production in the year-to-date up to October 2025, with a total of 1,913,122 units manufactured.

This figure represents a loss of about 110,000 units compared to the same period last year. The drop is attributed to the adaptation of production lines to new models and the lack of momentum in European demand.

October alone showed a 7.4% year-on-year decline, with 211,072 units produced. Passenger cars were the most affected segment, with 165,739 units (9.4% fewer than in October 2024), while commercial and industrial vehicles recorded a slight increase of 0.9%, with 45,333 units.

According to manufacturers' association Anfac, this downward trend means that Spain will not reach 2.3 million vehicles produced by the end of the year, with figures lower than those of 2024.

According to Anfac general manager José López-Tafall, the downward trend "in both production and export" has returned, despite the record growth in production registered in September. "Ongoing work at some factories and weak demand in the main European markets are affecting our production, for the second year in a row. We are concerned about this sluggish demand because it means less activity and could have a negative impact on employment. We should not forget that, since 2020, Spain has lost the production of about 2.7 million vehicles compared to the end of 2019, which is more than a year of production," López-Tafall said.

Exports reflect this contraction, having fallen by 10.9% in October, with 178,582 units shipped abroad. For the year to date, 1,639,680 vehicles have been exported, 8.9% fewer than in the same period of 2024.

Europe remains the main destination (91.8 % of exports for the month), although its share fell by 2.3%. Germany (33,889 units), France (26,683) and Turkey (21,170) led the ranking of export destinations. Shipments to Belgium (-33.2%), the UK (-31.9%) and the Netherlands (-29.4%) fell sharply, while exports to Turkey and Poland saw significant increases of 26.4% and 26.6%, respectively.

According to López-Tafall, "both Europe and Spain must reverse this negative trend in one of the leading sectors of the European and Spanish economy and innovation. The revision of the regulations affecting the sector in Europe must serve to recover industrial competitiveness as a desirable objective and bring this in line with the decarbonisation process. In this context, Spain cannot stand still. That is why Anfac, together with the government and all the regions of all political camps, as well as the entire sector and the transport ecosystem in Spain, has promoted the development of Plan España Auto 2030, which must be implemented as soon as possible. With this project, Spain is ahead of the EU and other competitors. Now that we have identified the steps to strengthen our industry, we must move from theory to practice".

Despite the overall decline, vehicle production by energy source shows a clear increase in the least polluting segments. Alternative vehicles (natural gas, conventional hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and electric vehicles) amounted to 733,679 units up to October, a 42.1% increase over the previous year, representing 38.4% of total production.

Meanwhile, electrified vehicles (pure electric and plug-in hybrids) grew by 5.4 % year-on-year to 189,415 units, representing a share of 9.9 % of total production. This increase is driven especially by plug-in hybrids, which have exceeded 2024 production figures and are close to surpassing those of 2023.

However, in October, production of electrified vehicles was 16,831 units, 8.5% fewer than in the same month in 2024.