Brazil, Mexico and China compete for the Colombian vehicle market

April 5, 2024

The Colombian vehicle market is getting smaller and smaller. Sales, production and imports fail to exceed the levels of a decade ago in a context of market recomposition.

Between 2006 and 2012, the share of “manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers; manufacture of other transport equipment” activities accounted for 2.7% of manufacturing GDP and 0.38% of total GDP, according to DANE figures. Since then, the automotive industry has lost share in the economy, as in 2023 these numbers decreased to 1.66% and 0.2%, respectively.

Vehicle sales in Colombia have failed to recover 2012 levels. Meanwhile, vehicle imports have declined over the last decade and competition between Latin American suppliers and China is becoming increasingly fierce, according to Cedetrabajo.

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Colombia’s imports of vehicles

Colombian imports of the vehicle and transportation sector fell precipitously between 2012 and 2019. In terms of quantities, Colombia went from importing 937,556 tons to 625,280 tons. Although with the pandemic, in 2022, imports experienced a brief growth, closing at 807,054 tons, in 2023 Colombian imports of the vehicle and transport sector fell again, with 539,324 tons.

In this sense, imported quantities fell 43% between 2012 and 2017 (the worst record in the last decade before the pandemic). For 2019, imports were 33.3% lower than in 2012.

Although the pandemic hit the sector hard in 2020, with vehicle and transportation sector imports falling 25% from 2019 in tonnage terms. In 2021 and 2022 these purchases grew YoY by 30.78% and 31.17% in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

However, in 2023, imports of goods of the vehicles and transport group fell back by 33.2%, barely exceeding by about 6 thousand tons the 2017 record. This is confirmed by Cedetrabajo after analyzing figures from Mincomercio.

Vehicles and auto parts are the main products in the import basket

In the 2012-2023 period, Colombian purchases of goods in the “vehicles and transportation” category in international markets were mostly from the “Motor vehicles and their engines” group, which had a 54% share. Products from the manufacture of parts, pieces (auto parts) and accessories (luxuries) for vehicles (15.7%), the manufacture of motorcycles (11.6%) and the construction of boats and floating structures (9.6%) complete more than 90% of Colombian imports.

The most important imports, those of goods in the group of “Motor vehicles and their engines” in terms of quantities went from 507,814 tons in 2012 to 284,637 tons in 2017. After this drop of 44%, 2019 saw purchases in tons higher by 28.1% compared to 2012 records.

Products from the manufacture of parts, pieces (auto parts) and luxury accessories for vehicles accounted for 15.7% of purchases between 2012 and 2023. This group of purchases went from 96,356 tons in 2012 to 121,000 tons in 2019. It has not been able to recover this level, as in 2022 imports reached 149,024 tons and in 2023 they barely reached 103,623 tons, -21.6% compared to 2022 records.

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Brazil, Mexico, China and Argentina are the winners in the Colombian vehicle market

According to DANE information, between 1992 and 2001, Colombia’s main vehicle suppliers were Japan (26.3%), the United States (22.6%), Venezuela (12.4%), South Korea (9.2%), France (5.3%), Ecuador (4%), Mexico (3.8%), Brazil (2.6%) and Germany (2.3%).

For the first decade of the 21st century (2002 – 2011), Mexico (14.7%), Japan (8.4%), South Korea (11.4%), the United States (6.5%), Ecuador (5.6%) and Brazil (3.9%) led the list of vehicle suppliers to the Colombian market, according to Cedetrabajo.

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Source: Cedetrabajo

South Korea entered the Colombian market with force between 1991 and 1994, years in which it became the fourth largest supplier of vehicles to Colombia.

Although initially this position was in constant competition with countries such as Japan, the United States, France and Germany. Between 2010 and 2016, South Korea ranked as Colombia’s third largest vehicle supplier.

However, after the entry into force of the FTA between Colombia and South Korea, between 2017 and 2019 the Asian country lost its market position with countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, China, Japan and the United States.

Since 2019, the most imported vehicles by Colombia, come from Brazil (24.7%), Mexico (17.4%), China (14.4%), Argentina (8.4%), Japan (8.1%), United States (5.9%) and South Korea (3.8%), according to Cedetrabajo.

Despite the entry into force of the FTAs signed with the United States and South Korea, the sharp rise of Brazil and Argentina contrasts with the loss of participation of the United States and South Korea in Colombian vehicle imports.

The most sold brands in Colombia

According to Cedetrabajo, based on ANDI’s automotive market behavior reports, it is evident that consumers have modified their preferences.

Between 2017 and 2022, Renault (29.2%) was the most purchased brand in the Colombian car market. Chevrolet (25.8%), Mazda (11.9%), Nissan (11.1%), Kia (11%), Toyota (3.7%), Suzuki (3.7%) and Volkswagen (2.9%) completed 60.8% of total vehicle sales.

Since 2019 Renault unseated Chevrolet as the preferred vehicle brand of Colombians. In addition, Mazda, Nissan and Kia have ceded to Toyota, Suzuki and Volkswagen.