These were the favourite cars of Hungarians in 2020
The Hungarian vehicle market is past a very rough year. The coronavirus outbreak and the measures implemented to curb its spread caused a decline in new car sales that we haven't seen for a long time.
a total of 128,031 new passenger cars were registered in hungary in 2020, which corresponds to a 18.9% year-on-year decrease.
We need to note, however, that this number was over the 118,000 estimate previously made by the Hungarian Vehicle Importers Association (MGE), and the drop recorded in Hungary was not as dramatic as in many other countries in Europe. This had to do with various factors, the MGE said on Tuesday.
- Contrary to what several European Union member states did, auto repair shops remained open full time and car dealerships were allowed to operate in shortened working hours in the first wave and in full time in the second wave.
- The state's car purchase support scheme for large families continued with the original conditions.
- The state announced a total grant of HUF 5.8 billion for the purchase of zero-emission vehicles and the favourable terms of EV purchases and operation also remained in place.
We should also note that the share of vehicles taken out of circulation - due to export, withdrawal of test vehicles, repurchase from lease or other business reasons - within six months after registration was rather high at about 25%.
the MGE projects 140,000 new passenger cars to be registered in hungary in 2021.
It stressed, however, that this cc. 10% growth is conditional to an effective COVID-19 vaccine preventing additional economic difficulties and allowing life to gradually return to normal.
The MGE also highlighted that the sale of petrol engine vehicles outweighed the sale of vehicles with diesel engines, which is not a favourable process in respect of CO2 emissions, but considering other pollutants it is still better. The share of plug-in hybrid vehicles was 3.5-4.0%, which is relatively high in EU terms, but this ratio is still low relative to the size of the market. Yet, the trend is definitely positive. The association added that sales of purely electric and plug-in hybrid models exceeded the 2019 base, but their combined market share still remained under 2.5%.
the mge projects this share to remain slightly under 3% assuming a 30% volume increase.
Should this projection prove correct, Hungary will have increased the market of electrically chargeable passenger cars significantly.
As for last year's stats, we should note that the import of used cars slightly outweighed the registration of new cars. A total of 9,970 used cars were registered in December and 130,431 in the whole of 2020. On the subject, the MGE noted that regulating used car imports from an environmental perspective, particularly due to the age of said vehicles, is as pressing as ever, if legislators are serious about protecting the environment and improving air quality. The average age of the Hungarian car fleet rose from 10.5 years in 2008 close to 15 years by now, which corresponds to EURO 4 standards.
These were the favourite brands in Hungary in 2020
Suzuki achieved a 11.55% share on the local passenger car market with 14,783 cars registered. The manufacturer has been leading local sales for the fifth consecutive year, mainly owing to the popularity of its locally-produced plug-in hybrid Vitara, and SX4 S-Cross models. The runner-up is Toyota with 12,672 new passenger cars registered and a 10% market share, followed by Ford, Dacia, and Skoda. FYI, a total of 72 Tesla models were sold in Hungary last year.
In line with the global trend, the most popular category in Hungary was small utility vehicles (SUVs), with more than one third (37.3%) of newly registered passenger cars in this class last year.
The SUV category (and that of all passenger cars) was led by Suzuki Vitara (30.19% segment share) that has been produced in Esztergom, northern Hungary since 2015 where it got a face-lift in the autumn of 2018. A total of 6,882 of this model were registered in Hungary in 2020, but this is well behind the 2019 figure. Dacia Duster and the new Ford Puma were also popular in the SUV category.
Ford smashes SUV category
Last year was full of challenges and it made an impact on SUV sales too. A total of 22,041 new small utility vehicles were registered in Hungary in 2020, which marks a 15.9% yr/yr decline. Ford was the most popular brand (7,041 sold) and its market share came to 32%. Fiat was the runner-up with 2.796 vehicles sold, followed by Toyota with 1,907.
we should note that the mge projects the sale of 25,000 small utility vehicles for 2021 which would correspond to a 13% annual increase.
Cover photo: Xavier Bonilla/NurPhoto via Getty Images
