The car market has not yet recovered to 2019 sales levels, the last year before the pandemic, according to data released yesterday by the Automobile Association of Portugal (ACAP). In 2022, the semiconductor crisis, which continues to cause order delays, was exacerbated by the worsening economic climate for consumers.
“We are the only economic sector that has definitely not yet recovered the values of 2019,” ACAP Secretary General Hélder Pedro told Dinheiro Vivo.
In the year 2022, the number of newly registered registrations was up to 2.8% higher than in 2021, but compared to 2019, sales were 30.8% lower. “We are still below pre-pandemic values and this is very serious,” the ACAP leader warns, as the size of the market exposes the country more to market pressures.
“We are talking about a loss of 82,000 units [em 2022 face a 2019]which is very important in Portugal,” he reveals, although the difficulty of restoring pre-pandemic levels is also “a trend in other countries, even in Europe.”
Source: DN
