The year started with a setback in the Hungarian car market, with 8,088 new cars registered in January, down 8.8 percent compared to the same period in 2021.

It's worth recalling that the Hungarian Vehicle Importers’ Association (MGE) forecast at the beginning of the year that 125,000 new cars would be sold in Hungary in 2022, a modest single-digit increase on last year's sales.

They also stressed, however, that the market expansion of around 3 percent is conditional on the normalisation of the stagnant supply of chips and other components by the second half of the year. In their view, the coronavirus epidemic should not lead to further supplier outages at that time, so customer demand, which will also be reflected in orders, can be met in a relatively short time.

THE LATEST STATISTICS ALSO SHOW THAT TOYOTA SOLD THE MOST CARS LAST MONTH, WITH 1,115 UNITS, GIVING THE BRAND A MARKET SHARE OF 13.8 PERCENT.

Suzuki was second on the list with 1,029 new cars sold and a market share of nearly 12.7 percent, followed by Ford, Skoda and Kia.

In January, 1,062 new small cars were registered, down 40 percent compared to the same period in 2021. Of the individual brands, Ford sold the most units, 236 units, in the Hungarian car market, with a market share of more than 22 percent. Toyota came second with 160 vehicles sold, while Renault took third place with 149 units sold in January.

The number of large commercial vehicles registered in January was 374, an increase of 19.5 percent compared to the same period last year. Five new buses were registered last month, almost 87 percent fewer than this time last year. The 185 motorcycles registered in January were nearly 22 percent more than in January last year.

Source: portfolio.hu