Toyota is to stop assembling vehicles in Colombia, consolidating production in Venezuela.
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Germán Calle, CEO of Renault-Toyota assembly JV Sofasa said Renault would buy out the entire 32% stake of its long-term partner Toyota.
He did not elaborate on future plans, but sources told just-auto Renault will assemble more versions on the Logan’s platform (the Sandero hatchback and the pickup truck) while Toyota will concentrate production in Venezuela and operate only as a distributor rather than as an assembler in Colombia.
After 2007 was the best year yet for vehicle sales in Colombia with 258,423 units sold, the US recession, rising interest rates and the border disputes with Ecuador and Venezuela have hit volume by 4.6% year to date.
According to statisticians Econometría, in the first two months of 2008, consumers bought 36,229 vehicles, 1,761 units less than in the same period of 2007.
The Federal Reserve reports about the deceleration of the American economy prompted investors to look for better places to invest their money and Colombia is one of those.
This flooded our economy with American dollars, prompting Banco de la República to protect the value of the Colombian peso to fight against inflation. It has raised interest rates to reduce consumption and this hit sales because about 70% of vehicles are sold with credit.
The border dispute with Ecuador and Venezuela effectively stopped Colombia for a whole week and sales in February fell to 10,899 units, the worst since September, 2006.
This, added to the recent Venezuelan decision to impose an import quota of 20,000 on vehicles from Colombia, also helped to push sales down, because local consumer held off purchases, anticipating a price war in the domestic market as automakers sought to shift surplus units that could not be exported.
Taxi sales have fallen 45.5% and the vans and trucks segment also fell. On the other hand, passenger car and SUV sales improved.
Juan Vargas
