Uruguay Full Year 2011: Chery now third best-selling brand!

Chery Fulwin 2

* See the Top 20 best-selling brands by clicking on the title! *

Like Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, the new car market in Uruguay reaches record levels in 2011 at 51,443 registrations, up 21% on 2010 which was already a record year! There is no models ranking available, only the fact that the Chevrolet Classic is the top seller in 2011 as it has been for many years. However the brands ranking is a fascinating one as Uruguay is one of the few countries in the world where Chinese manufacturers have had a very significant impact to date.

FAW Vita. FAW sales are up 95% in Uruguay in 2011

If Chevrolet and Volkswagen still dominate the ranking head and shoulders with 25.3% and 12.1% market share respectively this year, who else but Chery claws its way on the podium in 2011! Manufacturing locally in the Oferol factory from Barra de Carrasco, Chery sees its sales jump by 71% in 2011 to reach 3,394 units for a 6.6% market share, 4 units above Fiat and also passing Nissan. It even reached an amazing 2nd place with 12.2% of the market in June!

BYD F6. BYD sales are up 78% in Uruguay in 2011. BYD also launched a swanky new website…

Granted, there are no other Chinese brands in the Top 10 but no less than 9 in the Top 20 (vs. 6 in 2010), making Uruguay a comfortable nest for Chinese manufacturers and a cool jumping board for a further extension in South America. BYD is up 78% to #12, Great Wall up 12% to #13, FAW up 95% to #16, DongFeng up 1% to #17, Geely up 74% to #17%, Effa down 5% to #18, Chana up 19% to #19 and Lifan up 46% to #20.

Chana Mini Benni

In December, the trend is confirmed: Chevrolet is down to 24% share, VW to 8.7% while Chery is up to 7.9%. 6 of the other 9 Chinese brands in the Top 22 are on or above their Full Year 2011 levels with JAC appearing in the Top 20 for the first time and Chana the most impressive at #14 and 1.8% share.

Previous post: Uruguay July 2011: Chery QQ and Suzuki Celerio make their mark

Full Year and December 2011 Top 20 Ranking Tables below.