Volkswagens Were the Best-Selling Cars in January

The strong decline in new car sales in the Croatian market continued at the beginning of this year – in January, 1,814 cars were sold.

This is almost half as many as in January of last year, according to data from the agency Promocija plus, which relies on the Ministry of the Interior’s records of new registrations. According to this data, new car sales in January fell by 48 percent year-on-year, meaning 1,676 fewer cars were sold than in January last year.

Agan Begić, the director of Promocija Plus, commented for Hina that the decline in sales is largely a result of the general decline in living standards and does not come as a great surprise.

He believes that, in addition, some potential buyers are postponing their purchases until July 1, hoping for lower prices due to Croatia’s accession to the European Union and the effects of the Special Tax on Motor Vehicles Act, which will tie car taxation to environmental protection and carbon dioxide emissions starting July 1.

This special tax will be based on the purchase value of the vehicle and CO2 emissions, meaning that cars emitting less than 120 grams of CO2 per kilometer will decrease in price, those emitting between 120 and 130 grams per kilometer will remain at the same or slightly lower price, while those with CO2 emissions above 130 grams per kilometer will increase in price.

The best-selling brand in January this year was Volkswagen, with 234 cars sold, which represents a market share of 12.9 percent.

Renault also had a market share greater than 10 percent (10.4 percent) in January, with 189 vehicles sold. More than one hundred cars were sold in the first month by Kia (161), Opel (143), Hyundai (132), Peugeot (127), Citroen (125), and Škoda (100). Among the top ten brands in January are also BMW (75 cars sold) and Chevrolet (74).

All of these, as well as most other car brands, are recording a decline in sales year-on-year, and it is interesting to note that several brands in the higher price segment recorded more sold vehicles, although these are brands that have small shares in total sales, less than half a percent or only about one percent.

For example, in January of this year, 19 vehicles with the Volvo badge were sold, which is three more than in January last year, while eight sold Land Rovers is four times more than in January last year when only two were sold.

The best-selling models in January were the Volkswagen Golf (88 cars sold) and Renault’s Clio (72) and Megane (69).

According to data from the agency Promocija plus, more diesel cars were sold than gasoline cars in January – 1,072 cars with diesel engines were sold, and 742 with gasoline engines, so diesel cars account for 59 percent of total sales, while gasoline cars account for 41 percent.

As usual, the most cars were sold in the Zagreb area (622), followed by Primorsko-goranska (196) and Splitsko-dalmatinska counties (170).