Polish Car Market soared 16.1% in 2024, reaching 551,568 units sold and rebounding strongly from the 2022 downturn. Toyota led the growth, delivering consistent year-on-year growth and securing five spots in the models rankings.
Market Trend and Outlook
Poland’s economy is forecast to grow by 3.0% in 2024, rebounding strongly from near-stagnation in 2023, and further accelerating to 3.6% in 2025, driven by robust private consumption and EU-funded public investment. Growth is expected to moderate to 3.1% in 2026 as consumption and investment slow. Inflation eased in 2024 but will temporarily rise to 4.7% in 2025 due to energy price adjustments before declining to 3.0% in 2026.
The labor market remains tight, with unemployment declining from 2.9% in 2024 to 2.7% in 2026 despite slower employment growth amid demographic challenges. Wage growth will remain high but gradually decelerate. Fiscal deficits are projected to shrink from 5.8% of GDP in 2024 to 5.3% in 2026, supported by phasing out energy subsidies and rising tax revenues. Public debt is set to increase, reaching 62.4% of GDP by 2026. Net exports will weigh on growth, though their negative impact is expected to diminish as external demand recovers.
Despite ambitious targets, Poland’s lags behind other nations in EV adoption. Fully electric vehicles represented a negligible share of total car sales in 2024, with only 491 units sold. The market’s growth is hindered by insufficient infrastructure and an inability to meet government-set goals.
Nissan and Tesla led EV sales but posted negative year-on-year performances, reflecting the broader market decline. Other brands, including Renault and BMW, had minimal influence, highlighting the sector’s ongoing challenges.
Driven by strong economic momentum, the Polish car market grew 16.1% in 2024, reaching 551,568 units. After a 2022 downturn due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and pandemic aftershocks, the market rebounded steadily, with growth accelerating in the final quarter.
Looking at cumulative data up to December 2024 brand-wise, the leader was still Toyota with 103,834 sales (+13.9%), followed by Skoda in second at 60,136 (+16.8%). These two brands together held a market share of 28.7%.
Volkswagen -up 1 spot- secured 3rd with 38,404 sales (+13.2%), in front of Kia -down 1 spot- in 4th with 33,350 new registrations (+7.6%).
Hyundai ranked in 5th place with 31,007 sales (+15.1%), followed by Audi in 6th at 29,161 (+12.1%), Mercedes -up 1 spot- at 28,785 sales (+34.9%) and BMW -down 1 spot- with 27,123 (+16.7%).
Renault ranked in 9th position and accumulating 21,629 sales (+18.7%), followed by Dacia into 10th with 19,992 new car registrations (+12%).
Looking at specific models, reported in the dedicated article, the Toyota Corolla was still the best seller despite a 6.6% loss in year-on-year sales. The Skoda Octavia ranked in second with a 21.9% increase.
Medium-Term Market Trend
In the last decade the Polish market has seen a substantial growth. Between 2010 and 2012 the demand for car passengers was struggling with year-on-year sales falling 12.3% in 2011 and reaching 272,655 by the end of 2012. In 2013 began an uptrend that would continue for 7 years, reaching the all-time high in 2019 at 528,900.
As in most of the world the arrival of the pandemic in 2020 brought great difficulties in the automotive industry, with manufacturers and resellers closing down all over. The Polish car market fell 19.2% that year, dropping to 426,887 cumulative sales.
Fortunately the market recovered immediately after, with 2021 closing at 444,385 sales (+4.1%). The momentum came to a halt in 2022, with the year totaling 419,749 sales, a 6.2% decrease from the prior year. A combination of factors are behind the current industry struggle: the disruption in the global supply chain caused by a lack of raw materials, in particular for the production of microchips and Governments push towards Evs, an expensive alternative for low income consumers.
Although, in 2023 the market reached a total of 475,030 total sales, increasing 13.2% in comparison to the prior year.
Tables with sales figures
In the tables below we report sales for 10 Brands and top 10 Models.
