Spain Dominates Car Production Over Argentina Despite Close World Cup Final
As millions of football fans worldwide focus on the World Cup final between Argentina and Spain in New Jersey, a parallel competition unfolds in the automotive industry. Spain, a leading European car manufacturing powerhouse second only to Germany, vastly outproduces Argentina, whose smaller local industry mainly focuses on pickup trucks for South American markets.
In 2025, Spain produced approximately 2.27 million vehicles compared to Argentina's 510,000. The first half of 2026 saw declines in both countries, with Spain manufacturing around 1.1 million vehicles (a 19% drop) and Argentina producing about 205,000 (a 7% decrease). Spain exports about 86% of its production globally and is rapidly advancing in electric and hybrid vehicle manufacturing. Volkswagen Group produces its new affordable electric models in Spain, including the Volkswagen ID.Polo, Skoda Enyaq, and Cupra Rebel. Local manufacturer SEAT, owned by Volkswagen and including the Cupra brand, produces roughly 600,000 cars annually across its Martorell and Navarra plants.
Other major players in Spain include Stellantis, producing Peugeot, Citroën, Opel, and Renault models, and Chinese automaker Chery, which acquired a former Nissan plant. The most produced models in Spain in 2025 were the Cupra Formentor and SEAT Leon (230,000 units), Peugeot 2008 (160,000), Opel Corsa (150,000), and Volkswagen T-Cross (140,000).
Argentina's automotive sector, though smaller, specializes in rugged work vehicles and pickups for the South American market. Leading manufacturers include Toyota, Stellantis, Volkswagen, and Ford. Toyota produces over 100,000 Hilux pickups annually, mainly for Brazil. Fiat dominates the local sedan market with the Cronos, while Volkswagen manufactures the Amarok pickup and Ford the Ranger, both serving South America. Notably, some Argentine-made Amaroks were imported to Israel before supply shifted to Germany, and around 150 Israelis currently drive Spanish-made cars produced in the last decade.
