Mercedes-Benz returns to the top of Portugal’s car market in August

Mercedes-Benz leads Portugal’s August car market

Five months later, Mercedes-Benz has reclaimed top spot among Portugal’s best-selling brands, in a month when Peugeot, the usual leader, finished well outside the podium places.

In August, Mercedes-Benz registered 1279 passenger cars. Although this represented a 2.3% decline compared with August 2025, it was enough to beat Dacia, which finished close behind, just 47 units adrift. The Romanian brand increased its sales by 10.1%.

BMW completed the top three with growth of 3%, ahead of Toyota (+8.1%) and then Peugeot in fifth place. The brand that has led the Portuguese market for the past five years also recorded the largest decline among the 10 best-selling brands: down 15.1%.

Overall, Portugal’s passenger-car market grew by 8.4% in August 2026, reaching 14 086 registered vehicles.

Of the 10 best-selling brands, none expanded as strongly as Citroën. The French marque lifted registrations by 39%, while Kia rose by 14.4%. Moving in the opposite direction, Volkswagen also posted a significant fall of 12.3%, in addition to Peugeot’s decline.

Chinese brands continue to gain ground

Chinese brands are also continuing to strengthen their presence in the domestic market. BYD once again made the monthly Top 10 as the ninth best-selling brand, growing by 1.5% year on year.

Across the first eight months of the year, the Chinese manufacturer ranks 12th, having grown by 40.6% and sold 5249 units.

However, BYD is not the only brand worth noting. Outside the Top 10, MG grew by 56.7% in August, Xpeng climbed by 142.2% and Leapmotor surged by 1830.8%. Some of these figures should be viewed in light of the very low sales volumes from which certain brands were starting a year ago.

Beyond the Chinese brands, CUPRA (49.4%) and Mazda (159.3%) also stood out. At the other end of the scale, Tesla (-36.5%), Nissan (-39.1%), Hyundai (-36.1%) and Ford (-35.5%) were among the brands recording the month’s steepest losses.

What does the year-to-date ranking show?

Mercedes-Benz’s August leadership does not, for now, change the year-to-date standings. Over the first eight months of 2026, Peugeot remains Portugal’s best-selling brand, with 15 682 registered units, only 0.4% below the figure recorded over the same period last year.

Mercedes-Benz follows, growing by 4.5% but trailing by almost 3000 units, while Dacia has accumulated a 6.7% drop in registrations up to August 2026.

BMW sits immediately behind in fourth place, with growth of 8%. Volkswagen rounds out the Top 5 after a more substantial increase of 10.2%.

Several Chinese manufacturers again feature among the brands with the strongest growth since the start of the year. Leapmotor advanced by 1128% and Xpeng grew by 156.5%, with these percentages again influenced by the still very small volumes recorded in 2025.

Even so, the figures confirm the growing foothold of these newer brands in Portugal’s car market.

Tesla also deserves a mention. Despite its 36.5% fall in August, it remains ninth in the year-to-date ranking, with 6512 units and growth of 41.4%. Next month, Tesla is expected to register a flood of vehicles, as now appears customary at the end of each quarter.

For comparison, the passenger-car market grew by 9.5% year to date, with 169 323 vehicles registered. Including light commercial vehicles and heavy vehicles, Portugal’s automotive market grew by 10.3%, equivalent to 197 632 vehicles.