Spain's August vehicle exports fall 15.3% as UK-bound shipments collapse 64.2%

Spanish vehicle exports fell 15.3% year on year in August to 57,878 units, capping a summer that pushed the country's automotive industry into negative territory for the year to date, according to figures from the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers (Anfac) reported by ABC.

Exports over the first eight months of 2026 totalled 1,235,865 units, down 2.8% from the same period of 2025. Production followed a similar path: 1,452,791 vehicles were assembled in Spain between January and August, 1.8% fewer than a year earlier.

A July rebound erased in August

July had pointed to stabilisation. Spanish plants built 193,806 vehicles that month, up 3.3% year on year, and shipped 162,958 abroad, a 3.2% increase. August reversed the trend: output dropped to 59,443 units, down 15.5%, and exports to 57,878 units, down 15.3%.

The swing was driven by passenger cars. August car production fell 26.9% to 46,295 units, after 144,677 units and a 1.9% gain in July. Commercial and industrial vehicles moved the other way, rising 7.6% in July to 49,129 units and 88% in August to 13,148 units.

UK shipments collapse, Turkey extends decline

Europe remained the dominant destination for vehicles made in Spain, taking 90.8% of shipments in July and 89% in August, although its share slipped 0.3 and 1.2 percentage points respectively against the same months of 2025 as demand weakened among several European partners.

Germany and France stayed the largest buyers in both months. The August damage came from secondary markets. Shipments to the United Kingdom fell 64.2%, after the country had ranked third among European destinations in July. Turkey extended a consistent downtrend, down 28.6% in July and 39.9% in August, while Belgium contracted 30.7% in August. The exceptions came in July, when shipments to Italy rose 59.7% and to the Netherlands 35.9%.

Electrified share climbs on a thin base

New model allocations lifted electrified output. Production of battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles rose 6.6% in the year to August to 154,797 units, or 10.7% of total output, 0.8 percentage points more than in the same period of 2025.

The summer months were stronger still. Electrified production rose 46% in July to 30,067 units, 15.5% of the month's total and 4.5 points above July 2025. In August it reached 11,586 units, up 71.1%, lifting the share to 19.5%, meaning one in five vehicles built in Spain that month was electrified. Anfac cautioned that the small overall August volume inflates the ratio and expects it to moderate in the coming months.

Counting non-plug-in hybrids, LPG and natural gas models, alternative-powertrain vehicles reached 643,130 units over the eight months, up 14.5%, equal to 44.3% of total production.

Anfac calls for demand and production policy

Anfac maintains that the trend remains within manufacturers' expectations and continues to project full-year output of around 2.25 million vehicles, a decline of roughly 1% on 2025.

José López-Tafall, Anfac's director general, said the sector is “far from recovering desirable production levels and the values of 2019 or, at least, those of 2023”. He urged public authorities not to leave manufacturers on their own, arguing that “it is important that demand policies and production support policies accompany the effort of European manufacturers, to consolidate both the specific decarbonisation process and to maintain the competitiveness of our factories and those of suppliers”. He called for continuity in purchase incentives and the industrial policy lines set out in the Plan Auto+.

López-Tafall also pressed for European regulatory change aligned with the conclusions of the recent Draghi Report, warning that the industry's efforts “may be useless if in parallel the European Union, with the active push and leading role of Spain, does not adapt its emissions regulation, regulatory simplification and promotion of European production in a coherent and brave way, reviewing and correcting the mistakes made”.