Spain’s car production slumped almost 13% in 2005 and overall vehicle output was down nearly 9%, the national carmakers’ association Anfac reportedly said on Thursday.
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“The main reasons are the stagnation of the European market, the fact that some models made here are nearing the end of their sales cycle, and that vehicles made in Spain have lost market share,” Anfac said, according to Reuters.
Vehicles made in other European Union countries and in Asia had become very competitive, it added.
Including component makers, the automotive sector accounts for almost 6% of Spain’s economy and typically around a quarter of its exports by value. It also provides 10% of all jobs, Reuters noted.
The report said car output was 2.1m, after falling by 304,000 units or 12.7%, from 2004. In December alone, production fell 4.5%.
Industrial vehicle production rose 1.2% to 570,000 units. Vehicle exports dropped 9.4% in the year to 2.25 million, of which 1.7 million were cars, a fall of 13.4% from 2004, the news agency added.
The proportion of vehicles made in Spain that were exported was steady at 82%.
Anfac reportedly said its forecast for production this year was 2.75m vehicles, which would be a fall of just 0.2%.
