Uruguay May 2020: Suzuki S-Presso snaps first crown in the world, ignores market down -54.2%

Uruguay is the first country to crown the Suzuki S-Presso. Picture motorbeam.com

The Uruguayan new car market drops -54.2% year-on-year in May to 1.538 registrations, pulling the year-to-date tally down -29.8% to 10.927. Suzuki (+0.8%) continues to swim upstream, even managing a small year-on-year gain, the only one in the Top 13. The Japanese carmaker holds 17.3% of the market for the month vs. 14.8% so far in 2020. Volkswagen (-52.8%) edges up to #2 overall both in May and YTD, overtaking Renault (-64%) which returns to a podium finish this month. Toyota (-40.1%), Hyundai (-45.1%) and Nissan (-50.3%) also outpace the market in the remainder of the Top 10 but Chevrolet (-83.7%), Fiat (-68.2%), Citroen (-66.8%) and Peugeot (-64.6%) freefall. Further down, JMC (+300%), Mazda (+120%), Geely (+60%), Foton (+50%), Subaru (+40%) and Mercedes (+25%) improve year-on-year while Tesla appears at #42. Chinese carmakers (-46.6%) fare better than the market, improving their share to 9.6% vs. 8.9% so far this year. 20 Chinese brands have sold at least one unit in Uruguay this year, led in May by Chery (#12), Dongfeng (#15), BYD (#16), Changan (#17), Great Wall (#18) and Karry (#20).

Model-wise, the Suzuki S-Presso snaps its first monthly crown in the world for only its 4th month in the Uruguayan market, and is the only model selling over 100 units in May in Uruguay. After a successful launch in India late last year, the S-Presso is starting to conquer the world, also cracking the South African Top 10 this month. The Fiat Strada returns to the 2nd spot it holds YTD and is sandwiched between Suzukis, with the Swift and Celerio rounding out the Top 4. The Renault Kwid and Oroch follow, while Volkswagen manages to slip the Saveiro, Tiguan AllSpace and Up into the Top 10.

Previous month: Uruguay April 2020: Suzuki up to 27.6% share in market down -58.3%

One year ago: Uruguay May 2019: Chevrolet (+51.5%), Peugeot (+49.5%) defy market down -12.1%

Full May 2020 Top 50 All-brands and Top 200 All-models ranking below.