During the first eight months of 2018, 33,343 new vehicles were registered, 13% less than in the same period of 2017, according to the behavior reported since last year.
The latest figures from the General Comptroller's Office show that from January to August 2018, 11,767 new car-type vehicles were registered, 20% less than the 14,643 units registered in the same period in 2017.
In line with the behavior reported since last year, during the first semester, 25,522 new vehicles were registered in Panama, 13% less than in the same period in 2017.
According to the latest data from the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, between January and June 2018, 9,012 new vehicles were registered, 21% less than the 11,368 units registered in the same period in 2017.
According to the guild of vehicle importers, the premium car and SUV segment accounts for about 15% of total sales.
Data from the Association of Importers of Vehicles and Machinery (Aivema), "... on imports and sales shows that the total number of premium cars and SUV's oscillates between 5% and 8% of the 36,000 new units that came into the country in 2017, but they represent 15% of sales.
In the first half of the year registration of vehicles grew by 7%, driven by registrations of SUV vehicles, which grew by 18% and by pickup trucks, which grew by 35%.
Data from the Comptroller General of the Republic showed that in the first half of the year 33,164 vehicles were registered, of which 13,877 were regular cars, 1,424 were luxury cars, 9,568 SUVs and 5,111 pick ups,In addition about 2700 buses, trucks and other vehicles were registered.
In the first five months of the year imports of regular cars fell by 4% compared to the same period in 2015, and the luxury car segment fell by 11%.
Figures from the Office of the Comptroller General of Colombia highlighted the 7.7% increase in vehicle imports in the first five months of the year compared to the same period in 2015.
In 2014, 84 000 new and used vehicles were sold in Guatemala, Costa Rica and Nicaragua alone, and it is expected that 2015 will close with an annual growth of nearly 10% across the region.
While the region has generally shown an upward trend in the marketing of vehicles, mainly new ones, the characteristics of each of the countries, particularly with regard to access to bank credit, makes the behavior of the auto market different in each.
In 2013 61.815 vehicles entered the country having a total value of $540 million, with Toyota, Kia and Honda being the three most imported brands.
In 2013 vehicle imports into Guatemala fell by 5.5% compared to total imports in 2012, going from $570 million to $540 million (CIF value), according to a report prepared by the Department of Commercial Intelligence at CentralAmericaDATA.COM.