According to data from 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.

These are the best-selling Chinese vehicles in Ecuador in the first quarter 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).

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 “Therefore, there is a decrease in the number of vehicles of Chinese origin on the market that have been replaced by vehicles assembled in the country,” he said.

These are the best selling European vehicle brands in Ecuador

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.