Sales of 15,864 vehicles in May was a new milestone for the Colombian automotive industry, according to statisticians Econometría.
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The strong sales reflected Colombians’ confidence following their president’s re-election, which effectively was a referendum for the policies of his administration.
May sales were up 14.2% month on month and 39.4% year on year.
Sales of 70,605 units in the first five months of 2006 were up 32.1% on the same period in 2005.
BMW has recorded the strongest growth this year – 163.2% – followed by Ssangyong (151.0%) and Subaru (91.5%).
On the other hand, Fiat recorded the highest fall with sales off 44.4%, followed by Chrysler (-36.1%) and Mazda (-4,6%).
New model launches in May included Chevrolet’s GM-DAT-designed Vivant, an updated Renault Mégane and Chinese brand Chery’s Tiggo SUV with 2.4 litre Mitsubishi engine.
June has seen some bad news, however. United States inflation made investors in emerging markets nervous, and they transferred their money to more stable economies. This plunged the Colombian economy into crisis: in just one day, the stock market fell 10% and, on 12 June, the stock market was forced to close early.
Juan Vargas
