Shortage of some vehicle lines due to the drop in production and lack of space in cargo ships are some of the factors that will affect distributors competing in the local market during 2021.
Companies affiliated to the Association and Importers and Distributors of Motor Vehicles (Aidva), sold during last year 27,273 units, a figure that is lower by 7% than what was reported in 2019.
Although in 2019 worldwide vehicle sales fell by 3 million units, in Guatemala distributors project that this year local sales could grow between 5% and 10%.
According to Fitch Ratings risk data, at the end of last year reported a significant drop in vehicle sales globally, a decline that was induced by the contraction of the Chinese market.
The distributors' association reports a reduction of almost 4% in new vehicle sales for the first quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2016.
Jean Pierre Devaux, executive director of the Association of Importers and Distributors of Motor Vehicles (Aidva), commented to S21.gt that between January and March of this year"...6 thousand 894 new units have been sold."
99,000 vehicles came into the country in 2014, of which 30% were new cars and 70% used ones.
Compared to the figures reported in 2013, imports of new cars grew by 11% and used cars by 17%.In 2014, the month registering the highest number of new imported vehicles was November, with 3,264, while for used vehicles it was December, with 2846. Car sales rose by 8.2% compared to 2013.
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.
With the opposition from the private sector, the government insists on delaying for five years the fulfillment of the agreement which establishes a reduction in the level of sulfur contained in diesel.
April 15, 2015 is the deadline given by the Council of Ministers of Economy and Foreign Trade of Central America (Comieco) to reduce the concentration of sulfur in diesel.
Between January and November 2012 Guatemalan dealers sold 24,697 new cars, 18% more than in the same period in 2011.
After the stagnation in new vehicle sales as a result of the economic crisis, dealers predicted closing 2012 with a sales increase of 14%.
"According to statistics from the Association of Importers and Distributors of Motor Vehicles (AIDVA) between January and last November dealers sold 24,697 new cars, an increase of 18 percent compared to the 21,000 units sold during the same period in 2011.
Between January and July 2012, car dealerships in Guatemala sold 15.410 units, up 12% compared to sales in the same period in 2011.
According to the Association of Importers and Distributors of Motor Vehicles (AIDVA), in 2010 19.426 units were sold, whereas in 2011 the figure went up to 23.524.
"Among the positive factors in the automotive industry what stands out is sufficient liquidity in the financial system and the low interest rates offered by banks, ranking below 10 percent. In addition, it is also believed that the business has been favored by the country's higher economic growth ", added revistaindustria.com.
In the first 5 months of the year, importers sold 2,960 new trucks, an increase of 63% compared to the same period in 2011.
In the first 5 months of 2011 1,820 new trucks were sold meaning that the figures for the first 5 months of this year show an increase of 62.6%, despite rising fuel prices.
According to an article in Elperiodico.com.gt statistics from the Association of Importers and Distributors of Motor Vehicles (Aidva) SUV sales lead the automotive market. Then follows pick-ups with 2,184 new units (8.3% more compared with the 2017 units sold up to May 17, 2011).
In the first quarter of the year new car sales have grown by 21% compared to the same period in 2010.
Toyota, Audi and Nissan are just some of the brands whose vehicles sales have increased dramatically during the first three months of the year in Guatemala.
Although the earthquake in Japan affected the production of some plants, Toyota for example, as well as the distribution of paints and other supplies, it was not enough to affect the availability of vehicles in the country nor sales.
From January to March 2009 5,154 new cars were sold, compared with 8,356 units sold during the same period in 2008.
The economic crisis and credit restrictions are the main causes for the drop in new car sales, Brenda Montenegro, executive director of the Association of Importers and Distributors of Motor Vehicles (AIDV), told Prensalibre.com.
Where new car imports are concerned, they fell by 59.75% during the first quarter of the year when compared to the first quarter in 2008.
In February 2009, 1,156 new cars were imported, a drop of 61.5% when compared to the 2,927 new cars imported in February 2008.
With regard to used vehicle imports, the decrease during the same period was 31.5% because 5,613 units were imported in February 2009 and there were 8,200 during the same period in 2008.
Nelson Escalante, a spokesman for the Used Vehicle Importers Union, told El Periódico of Guatemala, "The economic situation is tough and people are no longer saving to buy a car." He also indicated that if "the Congress of the Republic approves the establishment of the First Registration of Vehicles Tax (Iprima) to replace the current import tariff and surcharge with a rate of 26% on the estimated value of the vehicle, sales could drop between 50% and 60%, leaving about 150 thousand people out of business."
Importers of new vehicles rejected the government's attempt to create a tax for first time registrations.
The proposed rates will make cars more expensive and cause the market to shrink.
The tax would apply to the import of new and used vehicle and to those assembled or produced in the country.
The creation of tax on first time registrations will substitute custom duties and establish rates between 10 to 2000 percent higher than what is currently charged for new vehicles.
Sales of automobiles in Guatemala in the first four months of the year were 6.3 percent down on the same period of 2007, in tandem with a slowdown in the economy.
The Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors said 10,910 units were sold from January through March, down from 11,645 in the 2007 period.
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