A good year for the economy and a release of pent-up demand made 2006 the best year on record for Colombian vehicle sales.
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A total of 201,637 vehicles were sold as the economy grew 6%. Cars accounted for 53% of sales at 107,463 units.
Overall, sales rose 37.6% and Subaru was the best improving brand with a 144.2% hike, its reward for launching the Impreza at a keen introductory price.
Subaru was followed by Ford (73.1% growth), Ssangyong (64.3%), Kia (54.1%) and Jeep (50.5%), all full-import brands.
GM, which assembles Daewoo, Opel, Suzuki, Isuzu designed vehicles and sells them as Chevrolets, took 37.6% market share, followed by Renault (16.8%), Hyundai (10.6%) and Mazda (5.4%).
GM improved 42.1%, mainly because of its diverse model line and a CKD packs source change from Opel to GM-Daewoo. The South Korean vehicles are more competitively priced.
Importers took the dominant market share of 55.6% helped by the relatively steady value of the Colombian peso against the US dollar – it rose 2% over the last 12 months.
Fewer pesos per dollar means cheaper CBUs in the showroom.
Juan Vargas
