Colombia September 2016: Renault Sandero takes charge

The Renault Sandero is the best-selling vehicle in Colombia so far in 2016. 

* See the Top 30 best-selling brands and Top 20 models by clicking on the title *

The Colombian new car market continues to struggle this year with a harsh 14% year-on-year drop in September to 21.391 registrations leading to a 15% year-to-date decline to 178.622 deliveries after 9 months. However according to local sources, the upcoming Bogota Auto Show, scheduled for November, may put a brake to the sharp sales decline we have been witnessing so far this year. For once market leader Chevrolet manages to outperform the market at -11% to 23.6% share while #2 Renault falls faster at -18% to 19.1% of the market. Kia posts a stunning 13% increase to cement the third position it holds year-to-date with 11.4% share, ahead of Mazda (7.6%) and Nissan (7.4%). Toyota (+26%), BMW (+27%), JAC – best-selling Chinese marque in Colombia (+104%), Hino (+5%), Foton (+66%), Honda (+5%), Dodge (+12%) and Ssangyong (+1%) are the only other manufacturers gaining ground in the Top 30 this month.

The Sail is knocked out of its pedestal after 3 years at #1, but Chevrolet still reigns. 

At the opposite end of the stick, Hyundai continues to freefall at -88% to just 179 sales in 16th place. The reason for this dismal performance is the ongoing legal battle in which the Korean manufacturer has embroiled in Colombia for almost a year. Last December, Hyundai ended its contract with Hyundai Colombia Automotriz, the brand’s distributor in the country for the past 23 years, awarding distribution rights to Neocorp. Hyundai Colombia Automotriz, facing liquidation, sued Hyundai for arbitrary termination. Since, an April court ruling prevented any distributor other than Hyundai Colombia Automotriz from selling Hyundai cars in Colombia, in effect keeping the brand out of the market. A second court ruling in August by a different legal body ordered exactly the contrary, allowing Neocorp to proceed with sales. There has been no progress since.

The Kia Eko – exclusively sold as a taxi – climbs into the overall Top 10 in September.

First official 2016 data by model shows a momentous shift: after three consecutive years of reign by the Chevrolet Sail, the Renault Sandero snaps the pole position both in H1 (which we show in a separate table) and in September thanks to 1.663 deliveries and 7.8% share including 644 Stepway. In comparison, the Sail sells 1.406 and the Chevrolet Spark 1.245 in third place. Renault manages to also place both the Logan (5%) and Duster (4.7%) within the Top 5 best-sellers. The Mazda3 is up two spots on its FY2015 ranking to #6, the Kia Picanto up 3 to #7 and the Chevrolet Tracker down two to #8. Kia has the Rio at #9 and the Eko Taxi at #10 – basically a bare-bones variant of the Picanto assembled solely for taxi companies. The Mazda2 misses out on a Top 10 ranking for just 42 sales while the Chevrolet Onix makes its first appearance inside the Colombian Top 20 at #13.

Previous month: Colombia August 2016: Concentration around four top selling marques

One year ago (1): Colombia September 2015: Renault and Mazda impress

One year ago (2): Colombia September 2015: Now with Top 50 best-selling models

Full September 2016 Top 30 brands and Top 20 models below.

Full H1 2016 Top 10 models below.