Features
6 Mar 18

LatAm car sales hold ground on South America boost

For the most part, new car sales throughout Latin America should see upticks in 2018 when looking at the region as a whole.

While Mexico and Central America will have some ground to make up, most countries in South America (about 60% of the LatAm population) should see year-over-year increases.

The largest markets

Brazil (fleet: 50mn vehicles) recorded nearly a 10% increase in new car sales in 2017 and, according to a Frost & Sullivan study, sales should be up by 2.1% in 2018 to about 2.1mn vehicles. The best-selling car in the country last year was the subcompact Chevrolet Onix.

2018 Chevrolet Onix (CREDIT: Chevrolet)

As for Mexico (fleet: 35mn vehicles), it saw its sales drop by 4.6% to 1.53mn units last year. A recovery is still not assured owing to uncertainties arising from this year’s presidential elections, increasing inflation, and the possible effects of the ongoing North American Free Trade (NAFTA) agreement.

The best-selling car in the country last year was the four-door sedan Nissan Versa.


2018 Nissan Versa (SOURCE: Nissan)

Meanwhile, Argentina (fleet: 14mn vehicles) experienced its second best year on record last year, increasing new cars sales by nearly 30% year-over-year. As for this year, forecasts are pointing toward record sales, possibly reaching 1mn cars.

The best-selling car in the country last year was the Volkswagen Gol.

2018 Volkswagen Gol (SOURCE: Volkswagen)

LatAm Top 10 (updated from earlier report)

Latin America's best-selling car in 2017 was the subcopact Chevrolet Onix, according to a 28-country study carried out by automotive research and data group Focus2Move. 

Made at the Gravataí plant in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, the US automaker sold a total of 230,954 cars in the 12-month period, up 32% year-over-year.

The five-door hatchback is a front-wheel drive vehicle with a five-speed manual transmission that comes in two engine options, being the 1.0 (80hp) motor and the 1.4 (106hp) motor.

Ranked No. 2, the subcompact Volkswagen Gol, was actually Brazil’s top seller for 27 consecutive years (from 1987-2014). As for Latin America, a total of 157,945 units were sold last year (up 30.2% y-o-y). It is available in a hatchback or sedan.

Meanwhile, the third most sold car in 2017 was the subcompact Ford Ka which saw 150,685 sales, up 32.5% from the previous year. It also comes in a hatchback or sedan.

Wrapping up the top 10 were the Nissan Versa (130,852 units sold), Renault Sandero (126,516 sold), Toyota Hilux (124,842), Hyundai HB20 (106,374), Toyota Corolla (104,647), Chevrolet Prisma (102,874), and Nissan March (84,070).

Authored by: Daniel Bland