A decrease in export market demand for Colombian products and commodities combined with domestic speculation about car tax reform and the free trade agreement (FTA) with the US – with its consequent fall in car prices – made 2012 one of the most difficult in recent memory for the local auto industry.

Nonetheless, Colombians bought 315,968 new cars, down 2.7% on 2011 and enough for the best second annual sales tally on record.

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Average monthly volume between January and October was 26,000 units but the usual boost from the annual Bogotá motor show saw sales climb 13.1% to 29,412 in November and fall back to 26,443 in December.

Top 10 market shares were: Chevrolet, 28%; Renault, 14%; Hyundai, 9%; Kia, 9%; Nissan, 8%; Toyota, 5%; Ford, 3%; Mazda, 3%; Volkswagen, 3%; and Dodge, 1%.

The locally assembled brands (Chevrolet, Renault and Mazda) lost 8% of market share, from 40.5% in 2011 to 32.5% in 2012, due to their products’ lack of competitiveness against imported CBU models which benefited from, among other factors, the revaluation of the peso against the US dollar. 

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Refelecting a global trend, the premium segment grew 0.3% from 6,570 units in 2011 to 7,201 last year, or 2.3% of the total market.

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The premium brand ranking was: BMW, 34%; Mercedes Benz, 29%; Audi, 21%; Volvo, 9%; Land Rover, 5%; Porsche, 2%; and Jaguar, 0.1%. BMW led its segment for the eighth consecutive year.

Major cities accounted for 84.3% of sales overall – this breaks down to Bogotá (46.7%), Medellín (12.8%), Cali (9.3%), Bucaramanga (6.6%), Barranquilla (5.9%) and Pereira (3.0%). But premium segment sales were made 100% in those same six cities: Bogotá (85.1%), Medellín (6.0%), Cali (3.9%), Barranquilla (1.2%), Bucaramanga (2.8%) and Pereira (0,9%).

The reason: wealth is especially concentrated in those six cities so the premium brands’ dealers are all there.

Econometria analysts forecast 2013 sales similar to 2012 and under 300,000 units.