After the first four months of this year, two things are clear in the Colombian automotive market: sales have fallen 22.7% but 2009 is nonetheless third by volume at this stage since record-keeping began.
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Average monthly sales of 15,000 units wre similar to 2006, when the year’s tally was 195,000 vehicles.
Econometría staticians said the contraction this year was due to the global financial crisis making Colombian consumers jittery about the future.
But Oliverio García, of the Andemos automakers association, told just-auto “while some countries are registering record sales through government incentives, in Colombia the financing programme from Bancoldex exclusively for locally produced cars and truck scrapping incentives didn’t work because the government’s main intention was to create trade barriers to importers instead of boosting sales.”
Last month the ministry of energy decreed the use of an E85 methanol-petrol blend in every new vehicle sold after 2012.
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By GlobalDataBrands without this technology protested loudly, especially German automakers who had representatives in Bogotá at the time.
Local media suggested the decree was a favour to sugar industry investors and affected brands are preparing legal cases.
Heavy truck sales have been hardest-hit both by the recession and recent government measures, with sales falling 46% YTD, while passenger cars dropped 25%.
April new car launches includes Kia’s Cerato Forte; Audi’s Q5; BMW’s X5d (the first Bavarian diesel vehicle in Colombia); Volvo’s XC60 and the Peugeot 207 Compact in both sedan and five door hatchback forms.
Juan Vargas
