Although with a little less momentum than in the first months of the year, vehicle sales in Ecuador, at the end of the first half of 2023, which reached 69,947 units sold, continue to grow, reaching and approaching some record years for as well as in the first six months of 2011 and 2018 ., when 70,294 and 68,280 vehicles were sold. This, according to the latest figures for the sector of the Association of Automobile Companies of Ecuador (Aeade).

Those years also set records for total annual sales with 139,808 vehicles in 2011 and 137,615 in 2018. In 2022, the sector sold a total of 139,517 vehicles, very close to the 2011 figure.

This year, according to the trade union’s data, which is based on the statistics of the Tax Administration (SRI), from January to June, the increase in sales amounted to 10.6% compared to the same period in 2022, in which 63,219 units were sold.

The Autoshow will be the gateway to more electrified vehicles, adding to the 93 models that have already entered the local market in 2023.

If the last recorded month, June, is separated, the statistics reflect a larger increase, of 16.5% year-on-year, generated by the sale of 12,078 new vehicles.

“However, this growth was driven by the fact that sales in June 2022 were affected by the domestic mobilizations of that month,” explained Aeade, who also reiterated that “although this year started with a high level of sales, at the end in the first semester the dynamics has decreased under the influence of the political and socioeconomic situation in the country”.

In the four categories of cars sold in Ecuador (light, commercial, hybrid and electric, and motorcycles), electrified vehicles are the ones that have shown the greatest growth in these first six months of the year.

According to Aeade, the growth of the commercialization of electrified vehicles (hybrid and electric) in this period reaches 55%, the technologies most in demand are those of light hybridization (Mild Hybrid), which reach 2732 units. In addition, vehicles with Extended Range technology, which entered the Ecuadorian market this year, have already reached a sales level of 566 units.

These are the 20 best-selling models of electrified vehicles in the first half of 2023:

The next category with the best results is light vehicles (cars, SUVs and trucks), whose sales in the first six months increased by 10.7%, with a positive rating in all three segments. Trucks show the greatest growth with a variation of 15.7% on the annual level, with a total of 12,621 units sold.

These are the 20 best-selling car and SUV brands in the first half of 2023:

The best-selling car model in this first half of the year was the Soluto, from the South Korean brand Kia, with 3,624 units, while the best-selling SUV model was the G01, from the Chinese brand Shineray, with 1,885 units, and finally, Chevrolet’s D-Max was the best-selling truck model in that period. with 4,447 copies.

On the other hand, commercial vehicles (trucks, buses and vans) grew by 10.2%, driven by passenger transport segments that recovered strongly in 2023. Sales of buses increased by 90% and vans by 27.5% in comparison from 2022

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

As for motorcycles, the figures show that the demand for this type of vehicle in the Ecuadorian market has stagnated and represents a slight growth of 2.8%. In June, 16,692 sold units were registered.

This segment is dominated by the Chinese brands Shineray (15,540 units sold), Daytona (7,808), IGM (7,471) and Ranger (6,224) in the lead. The Indian brand Bajaj is in fifth place with 5,483 motorcycles sold.

Vehicles assembled in Ecuador are gaining traction, even though the Chinese are doubling them, but their origin sales are slowing

According to the Chamber of the Ecuadorian Automobile Industry (Cinae), the main origin of vehicles sold in Ecuador is China. From January to June, 24,444 vehicles imported from the country were sold in the country, although there was a slight decrease of 0.08 percent compared to the same period in 2022 when 24,463 vehicles of the Asian giant were sold.

At the same time, the market shows a recovery of vehicles sold and assembled in Ecuador, which are in second place by country of origin in sales ranking de la Cinae, with a growth of 69.92%, from 6,181 units sold in the first half of 2022 to 10,503 in the first six months of 2023.

In third place are vehicles from Brazil with 7,144 vehicles sold, followed by Japan (4,380), India (4,195), Colombia (3,534), South Korea (2,574), Thailand (2,227), Mexico (2,084), Indonesia (1,444) and Argentina (1,410).

These are the best-selling Chinese vehicles in Ecuador in the first five months of 2023

For David Molina, CEO of Cinae, the recovery of vehicles assembled in the country is due to the efforts of assemblers to seek sustainability in their production.

“The very low production volume is unsustainable, so they have to find a way to increase volumes,” explained Cinae’s CEO, who believes assemblers negotiated with their accounts to find favorable terms to assemble more vehicles in the country.

Another reason, Molina added, is that Chinese vehicle brands have begun to be assembled in Ecuador. “Therefore, there is a decrease in the number of vehicles of Chinese origin on the market that have been replaced by vehicles assembled in the country,” he said.

Overall, Molina expects to end 2023 with domestic assembly production of 20,000 units, some 5,000 units more than the 15,000 they closed with in recent years, though he clarified that figure is still much lower than in other periods before the pandemic when production reached 40,000 units.