Colombian Auto Sales At Record Pace

According to a report jointly produced by the gremios (trade groups) ANDI (National Businessmen’s Association of Colombia), FENALCO (National Federation of Merchants), and the Colombian Automotive Committee, in December 2014 new automobile sales in Colombia surpassed 40,000 units for the first time ever. The December rate represented an increase of 27.5% over the same month in 2013.

Many believe that fears of inflation and rising import costs due to the falling peso are fueling accelerated auto sales by customers wanting to take advantages of current prices before projected increases.

The 2014 total for new car sales (including light trucks) was 326,023, representing an increase of almost 11% over 2013’s quantity of 294,362. The statistics indicated that 34% of new cars were assembled in Colombia, versus 66%, or 218,152 imported.

The entire report, in Spanish, may be accessed here.

As to be expected, Bogotá saw the most new vehicles registered with 36.8%, followed by metropolitan Medellín (Envigado 5.4% and Medellín proper 3.8%) at 9.2%, then Barranquilla at 3.7%. Cars comprised half the vehicles registered (50.8%) followed by SUVs at 27.1%, then pickup trucks at 5.4% and taxis at 4.9%.

2015 Ford Mustang being loaded for export. Photo courtesy FORD