Three out of four cars manufactured in Portugal run on gasoline
Gasoline is increasingly on its way to monopolize the production of passenger cars in Portugal. By 2022, for every four light consumer cars, three will have a gasoline engine. In commercial and heavy vehicles, on the contrary, diesel continues to be king.
Among the 256,018 light passenger cars manufactured in Portugal in 2022, 198,533 had a gasoline engine, i.e. 77.55% of the total. There were 57,474 units with a gasoline engine. Gasoline had never had so much weight in vehicle production, according to data collected by ECO from the Automobile Association of Portugal (ACAP).
It was from 2018 onwards that gasoline engines (63.25%) began to equip more light cars than gasoline (36.75%). This was the first full year of production of the T-Roc SUV in Autoeuropa, which replaced the sporty Volkswagen Scirocco. In 2019 there was a slight drop (59.11%) but the pandemic consolidated the trend: in 2021, gasoline dropped to 74.38%. The dominance of this fuel has to do with consumers in Europe, the destination region for 90% of the products produced in Portugal.
Gasoline is just not that heavy because, in addition to Autoeuropa, around 24,000 units manufactured in Mangualde were also classified as light passenger vehicles. Gas still dominates at the Stellantis Automotive Alliance plant, where most production is devoted to light commercial vehicles.
For this type of vehicle, there are only disaggregated data from 2020. In that year, 95.74% of vans had a gasoline engine. This fuel continues to lead traders’ choices, despite a share having dropped to 93.16% in 2022.
In trucks and buses, gasoline never enters, but this is where there are more energy options: although diesel accounts for more than 96% of the units produced, they already appear as electric units – trucks manufactured in Fuso, in Tramagal – and even hydrogen – buses produced by CaetanoBus.
The scenario of car production should not change in the coming years while a new model for Autoeuropa is not announced and not starting the project to manufacture a hybrid or electric unit at Stellantis Mangualde. Fuso Tramagal and CaetanoBus are increasingly betting on electrified solutions.