Between January and October this year more than 1,300 high-end vehicles were sold, equivalent to 5% of new car sales in the same period.
According to the Association of Importers and Distributors of Motor Vehicles, the bestselling luxury car brands up until October of this year were: Audi, with 382 units, BMW, with 340 units sold, Land Rover with 127 units and finally Porsche with 104 cars.
The sustained growth of the Panamanian economy is boosting luxury car consumption, championed by high-end cars.
The increase in sales of vehicles in 2013 in the luxury segment is expected to be repeated in 2014, according to representatives of the brands. The union of distributors also expects an increase, although it is more cautious.
Roberto Duran, CEO of Consúltenos, an Audi car dealership said: "We think that this year growth in our segment should be above 10%."
The Panama Canal Authority is promoting the development of automotive and natural gas terminals on land bordering the new canal.
Jorge Quijano, ACP Administrator, met with current clients of the Canal and carmakers.
"We see that the route requires not only more traffic, but also land development," said the official, who explained that the ACP has about 900 acres available, some created with earthworks from the Canal expansion, and there are currently 8 megaprojects under evaluation.
A direct purchase of 51 garbage trucks by the municipality of Panama City could be annulled due to anomalies in the acquisition process.
Businessmen and municipal delegates requested to reverse the decision to purchase 51 garbage trucks from companies “Equipa Panamá S.A” and “Partes Diesel”, for approximately $8.6 million.
Delegates from Volvo and Mercedes criticized the purchase, alleging they received an invitation to bid on April 1st in which they had only 4 days to submit a proposal. They explained it was difficult to do so in such short time, because “it was a millionaire negotiation involving many details and many activities were paralyzed, as it was a holiday week”.
February closed with the sale of 2,769 new cars, but 3,394 units were sold during the same period in 2008.
This represents the lowest figure in the last 12 months.
Journalist Manuel Luna wrote in laestrella.com.pa: "Luxury brands were affected such as Mercedes Benz where 23 cars were sold in January and only 15 were sold in February, while Lexus went from 20 to 8 cars sold.
In Panama, Grupo Q won the bid to supply 420 buses for the “transmóvil” project for an amount of $79,981,240.
The Volvo consortium was disqualified during the process because its proposal did not contain an adequate maintenance plan for the vehicles offered.
In an article in prensa.com, the scores from the evaluation were detailed: "Grupo Q was evaluated with a score 81.30% after its financial capacity was analyzed, an aspect that was worth 20% of the total score. Its administrative and technical experience represented 40% and its financial offer was worth another 40%."
The Guatemalan company Grupo Los Tres has announced that it has bought 10,000 square meters of property to build a new salesroom.
Group president Diego Cuestas says the new location of the salesroom will enable the company to diversify its operations in El Salvador.
The new building will be located on the corner with the Pan American Highway and Santa Elena Boulevard.