Sales of vehicles in the first quarter of this year confirm the recovery of the automotive sector, even with figures that exceed those achieved in the last pre-pandemic year of 2019.

In the first quarter of this year, the sector sold 35,026 vehicles, which represents a growth of 13.5% compared to sales in the same period in 2022, which itself was a year that set a record in the last eleven years (total sold last year is 139,517 vehicles, but in the first quarter there were only 30,858), according to the latest report of the Association of Automobile Companies of Ecuador (Aeade).

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Additionally, the 35,006 units sold in this first quarter is also 14.21% higher than the 30,668 sold in the first three months of 2019.

These increases and percentage differences are also reflected in the reports published by the Chamber of the Automobile Industry of Ecuador (Cinae), although with minimal differences in the amounts.

For David Molina, CEO of Cinaa, the recovery is important and he assures that if this trend continues, 2023 will end with the sale of around 140,000 vehicles, a figure never seen before in the Ecuadorian vehicle market.

“Indeed, this is a very important market recovery. There is also a small recovery of vehicles assembled in the country,” says Molina, who estimates that the market share of assembled vehicles could increase from the current 14.7% to 18%, compared to imported vehicles that represent 85%. .3% of the market.

According to data from China, in the first quarter of this year, 5,157 assembled vehicles were sold and 29,889 were imported. While in the same period last year, 3,309 assembled and 31,737 imported were sold, which represents 11.1% and 88.9% of the market share that year.

Meanwhile, Chevrolet and KIA led the light vehicle category in sales this first quarter, the latter brand leading in two of the three segments: SUVs (2,779 units) and cars (3,001); while Chevrolet leads the pickup segment with 2,258 units sold, according to Aeade.

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A total of 15,608 SUVs, 9,138 cars and 6,392 vans were sold from all brands on the market.

In this way, Chevrolet leads the light vehicle market with 20.3%; KIA follows with 16.6%; Toyota (6.8%), Hyundai (6.3%), Chery (5.1%), Renault (4.8%), Shineray (3%), Suzuky (3%), Nissan (3%), Great Wall (3%), Jetour (2.9%), Ford (2.7%), Volkswagen (2.5%), DFSK (2.5%), Mazda (2.5%), JAC (2 4%), Dongfeng (1.6%), Peugeot (1.2%), Mitsubishi (0.9%), MG (0.5%) and Opel (0.2%).

Meanwhile, in the commercial segment, the Hino brand leads two of the three categories: trucks (492) and buses (165); and Shineray leads van sales with 281 units sold between January and March.

Meanwhile, Aeade highlights the top 10 best-selling makes and models in the country’s main provinces:

pichincha

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Guayas

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Azuay

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What is the reason for this recovery?

Molina analyzes several factors that allowed vehicle sales to reach current recovery levels, including the normal recovery of a market that was stagnant due to the pandemic when sales fell below average; and concessions given by banks for consumer loans.

“With fixed interest rates in various segments, banks are disincentivized to lend, for example, to the manufacturing sector, which has a much lower rate, but the bank has to lend, so consumer credit could be serviced more by the banks and that could boost sales a bit,” explains Cinae’s CEO .

For his part, economic expert Jorge Calderón qualifies the growth in this segment as a symptom of the country’s economic recovery, assuring that in these cases there is always an effort to acquire goods, including vehicles, which are still an exception in this indicator. consumption and recovery. He believes that the increase in vehicle sales could also have been influenced by the creation of jobs since the pandemic until today, although he warns that jobs have not yet reached the numbers before the pandemic.

87.5% higher sales in the first quarter of 2023 supports diversification and preferences among ‘electrified’ vehicles in the local market

“Employment is recovering, it is still not at the level before the pandemic, but some see the opportunity to have a vehicle and have a job, to have at least an income by signing up on platforms or free,” says Calderón, who The growth of electricity cars within the figures for the automotive sector also stands out, motivated by tariff reductions, fuel price fluctuations, but also by the need to decarbonize mobility.

According to Aeade, in the first quarter of 2023, 2,361 hybrids and 149 electric vehicles were sold. In the case of electric cars, this represented a growth of 175.9% compared to sales in the same period in 2022, which amounted to 59 units. While in the case of hybrids, there are increases by segment that reach up to 336.8%, as in the case of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.