Bulgaria – The latest piece of the EU-27 arrives at Dataforce

Introduction quote from the CEO:

“As a truly European Data provider I am really chuffed that we finally can show data for Bulgaria. Now only Malta remains outstanding from the EU-27, then we are really providing what we are known for – The most comprehensive European New Car Registration Data/Analysis available in the market.”

Marc Odinius, CEO Dataforce

In terms of new car registrations volume for 2021 Bulgaria is sandwiched between Lithuania and Estonia and while geographically this is Greece and Romania (and Turkey) the Bulgarian market is perhaps around a quarter of these two neighbors. With 12, 600 registrations for PC & LCV (0-3.5t) in 2021 so far (Jan-May) Bulgaria is still an emerging market but with some potential for growth.   

Make and Models

There is a clear favorite in the market when it comes to Makes and that is Dacia which takes a 13.2% slice of the new registration pie. Toyota follows before Skoda rounds out the Top 3 for 2021 YTD and looking into the Top 5 we see a similar set of brands and ranking with its neighbor Romania. For the year 2020 the top 5 consisted of Dacia, Renault, Skoda, Toyota and VW in that order which made up 52.3% of all registrations. Looking at the model ranking for 2021 it comes as no surprise to see a Dacia at the top with the Dokker in 1^st and both the Duster (6^th) and Sandero (9^th) also feature inside the top 10. The only country where more Dacia models appear within the top 10 is Romania, where they are manufactured. Next most popular model is the Nissan Qashqai (2^nd) which is followed by the Toyota Corolla (3^rd), again noteworthy is that the Dokker is almost twice as popular as these two.

Vehicle Segments

Taking a glimpse into the vehicle segments we see that SUV compact (C) holds 17.6% of the share and is the #1 segment, like in the majority of other European nations, though this is very closely followed by both PC Small (B) 16.2% and PC Compact (C) 14.3%. The most popular models from the SUV compact segment are the Nissan Qashqai, Dacia Duster and Kia Sportage. Utilities Small (A) and SUV Small finish out the top 5 segments with the Dokker dominating the former with over 62.4% of all registrations, while in the latter it is a much closer, with only 94 registrations separating the top 4.