New electric models, presented at the Autoshow 2023, mark the path of their brands towards long-term sustainability plans

shows shows, dances, fireworks and music was the preamble that ended the Autoshow 2023 in the afternoon and evening of Tuesday, July 11, at the Simón Bolívar Convention Center in Guayaquil, where in the first six days of the fair, more than 24 vehicle brands launched around 22 new models on the domestic market.

In total, until next Sunday, July 16, 33 vehicle brands that are part of the 80 companies in the sector participating in the event, which includes financial institutions, after-sales services, accessories, insurance and more, will present the news and innovations of the industry than before this years -from January to June, 69,947 new vehicles were sold10.6% more than in the same period of 2022 in which 63,219 units were sold, according to the latest official data from the Association of Automobile Companies of Ecuador (Aeade).

As for electrified vehicles, the segment that showed the highest growth in the first half of 2023 with 55% more sales compared to the first six months of last year, driven by sales of 5,272 units this year compared to 3,407 in 2022, also showed the most novelties on the first day of the fair, since more than half of the more than 22 new models launched were from this segment.

These are the best-selling vehicles in Ecuador in the first half of 2023, nearly surpassing the records of 2011 and 2018.

To reaffirm the tendency of brands to offer more new energy alternatives, the first vehicle presented at the Autoshow was 100% electric: the Seres 3 of the Chinese brand DFSK. Santiago Vásconez, general manager of Automekanrepresentative of the brand in Ecuador, was in charge of unveiling a new model that promises an autonomy of 400 km with a single charge of only 3 dollars.

“The Seres 3 can be driven all week for just $3, $33 cheaper than gasoline-powered cars of similar characteristics and sizes, thus saying goodbye to gas stations and ever-higher fuel prices,” emphasized Vásconez. The new vehicle is available starting at $29,990.

The second vehicle presented at the Autoshow was also 100% electric, but this time it was the South Korean brand Hyundai’s turn with its new Ioniq 5 model. Héctor Quiroz, head of marketing for the company in Ecuadorassured that with this new model, Hyundai is leading into a new era of mobility and electrification of its models, ensuring that the brand aims to be carbon neutral by 2045, and the Ioniq 5 is the model that mandates that mission.

“This model marks the beginning of an era of various Ioniq models, there will be 6, 7 and so on, but beyond that it marks the technology that Hyundai has achieved in recent years, a journey of 50 years since the first export,” said Quiroz, who revealed that the vehicle hits the national market at a price of $65,000 to $70,000.

A group of Maves was the next to launch new models of some of the brands it sells in Ecuador. It’s the turn of the Dongfeng E70 Pro, a car that is also 100% electric with a range of 412 km. It also introduced the A60 Max Hybrid, a hybrid sedan with a 1.5 turbo engine. It also added the Citroen C3 You and the Dongfeng U Tour SUV to its portfolio.

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

For its part, the German brand Audi also launched its electric model Q8 e-tron in two versions: the classic SUV and the Sportback. The first has a range of up to 582 km, while the Sportback version reaches up to 600 km. In addition, during the launch of these models, the brand announced that from 2026, it will launch only new models with an all-electric drive.

The Sportback version comes with a price tag of $84,490 for the Ecuadorian market.

Meanwhile, the South Korean company Kia, which led the sales of light vehicles in the first half of this year with 11,358 units, with the Soluto being the best-selling car model with 3,624 units sold, also showed a new electric model All – the New Niro EV.

Ricardo Rosales, executive president of Kia Ecuador, presented a new member of the brand’s portfolio. He indicated that the all-new Niro EV has a range of 460 km between charges. The executive pointed out that Kia currently has 53 electric charging stations across the country, three of which are fast charging stations. “By September, we will install 150 charging stations, of which 10 will be fast charging stations, which will facilitate the use of electric vehicles in our country,” Rosales revealed and announced that a new 100% electric SUV will enter the market by the last quarter of 2023. national market: Kia EV9, with three rows of seats.

Rosales added that they will launch nine electric cars by 2025, including utility and work vehicles.

Nissan also launched an electric model: X Trail E power. At the same time, it showed its new conventional models: Qashqai 2024 and Pathfinder 2024. The German brand Opel was not far behind and launched its new electric model Mokka.

Ford was in charge of unveiling two new truck models, the new F150 and the all-new Ranger Raptor, the latter equipped with a 397-horsepower 3.0L Nnao V6 Turbo gasoline engine and a 10-speed sequential automatic transmission.

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Daniel Yánez, marketing manager at Orgo Ford, highlighted the arrival of these new models and revealed that the Ford F150 is arriving at $89,970 and the all-new Ranger Raptor at $99,990. “We have impeccable technology. What differentiates us from Ford when it comes to trucks is power,” said Yánez.

Ricardo Baquerizo, president of Expoplaz, the organizer of the Autoshow, noted the growing trend of brands showing electrified models, but also described 2023 as a year of regularization after the economic downturn of 2020 and 2021 that affected the automotive sector. “We have a very important amount of vehicles to show and the consolidation of so many brands that have been launched in recent years, 2019, 2020, 2021 and that we see consolidated at the Autoshow,” Baquerizo said.

He added that one of the goals of the event is to show the participants what an electric vehicle consists of, to understand where the efficiencies are and why this change will happen faster, Baquerizo indicated.