In March, the sale of new cars in Colombia fell

According to the National Association for Sustainable Mobility (Andemos), 20,845 new vehicles were registered in Colombia during the month of March 2022, which represents a 9.1% decrease compared to the same period in 2021.

According to Oliverio García, president of that association, the reduction in number plates in March is due to the global crisis in vehicle supplies, a factor that would be delaying deliveries to customers who buy them. It would also explain the moderate growth of the first quarter of 2022, in which 57,454 vehicles were registered — an increase of 0.8 per cent.

Another factor that would be affecting new enrollments, at least in Bogotá, would have to do with the delays caused by the new tax payment platform. The country's capital reported the largest number of new license plates, with 4,062 units. However, the figure represents a decrease of 21.7 per cent compared to the previous period.

The other municipalities that registered the most new cars were Funza (Cundinamarca), with 1,877 vehicles (an increase of 23.6%); Cali, with 1,495 (a decrease of 17.6%); Medellín, with 1,464 (a decrease of 14.2%) and Sabaneta (Antioquia), with 1,219 (an increase of 17.8%).

The segment with the most new license plates was cars, with 9,048 registrations; this figure represents a decrease of 11.6 per cent compared to the previous period. Utility vehicle registrations were also reduced, the second most registered category, with 7,647 new units and a reduction of 8.4 per cent. Third, commercial cargo vehicles of less than 10.5 tons had 2,174 new registrations, down 7.3 per cent.

The car brand with the most new registrations is Chevrolet, with 3,857 new cars and a modest reduction of 1.1% over the same period last year. The second was Renault, with 3,389 new license plates and a reduction of 20.6%. They follow Toyota, with 2,049 (increase of 43.6%), Kia with 1,848 (increase of 17.1%) and Suzuki with 1,556 (increase of 101.8%).

In March, 2,228 vehicles with electric or hybrid technologies were registered; they represent approximately one in ten vehicles registered during this month. In electric vehicles (BEV), 382 units were registered (increase of 324.4%), in plug-in hybrids (PHEV) 203 units (increase of 51.5%) and in electric hybrids (HEV) 1,643 units (increase of 112.3%).

The brands that sold vehicles with these characteristics the most during the month ended are Toyota with 853 units (increase of 103.6%), Suzuki with 432 (increase of 100%), BYD with 213 (increase of 1,421 per cent), Mercedes Benz 139 (decrease of 16.3 per cent) and Mazda with 105 (100 per cent).

Vehicle availability issues would be particularly affecting purchases of premium brand vehicles. In fact, in March 2022 they fell by 20.5% compared to the previous month; they completed 748 registrations.

The brands with the most new license plates were: BMW with 259 units (decrease of 12.8%), followed by Mercedes Benz with 231 units (decrease of 23.8%), Audi with 103 units (decrease of 7.2%), Volvo with 71 units (decrease of 44.1%) and Mini with 52 units (increase of 15.6%).

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