Car sales did not reach projections in 2023

The auto market in Panama exceeded pre-epidemic levels, although it did not reach the estimated projections for 2023, mainly influenced by the social movements recorded in the last quarter of last year. Actors from the automotive sector stood out.

The car market closed the year 2023 with a cumulative 48,919 monthly new cars entering the fleet for the first time, which represents a growth of 16% compared to the end of the previous year. in detail National Institute for Statistics and Population Censuses.

Car sales growth in 2023 was below that designed by the Automobile Dealers Association of Panama (ADAP)whose growth percentage is estimated at 23%, with very good forecasts for its achievement.

While setting up a new one ADAP board of directors, outgoing president, Miguel Durán, He pointed out that these figures were affected by the paralysis of the country during October and November, in the rejection of the management given to the mining contract.

And operations in workshops and He indicated that the marketing of the vehicle was strongly affected.

Durán emphasized that the biggest challenge is which The union faced at the beginning of its management was to achieve sales levels similar to those before the pandemic, and indicated that it was possible to exceed 2019 sales by 2%.

With the exception of the minivan segment (includes minivans and small minivans), which decreased by -5.4, all segments automobiles experienced sales growth led by 23.5% growth in luxury car sales, 20.5% in regular cars (includes regular cars such as sedans, coupes and trucks), 17.2% in the SUV segment (includes small, medium , large and long SUVs), 16.4% in panel cars.’

16%

New car sales increased in Panama during 2023, according to INEC data.

23%

It was the sales projection that ADAP estimated for last year.

Likewise, the sale of truck cars it grew by 9.7%, while buses and Pick Up saw an increase of 7.8% and 7.5%, respectively.

The statistics on participation by car segment during the month of January this year 2024 was led by the SUV segment with 52.2%, followed by sedans with 24.8%, the Pick segment An increase of 13.1%, and luxury cars 3.9%, was announced in detail by the Association of Automobile Distributors of Panama (ADAP).

According to the company connected to the APC Experian platform, car loan balances andIn January of this year, they reached 1,978,136,592 dollars, 5.49% more compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, finance companies reported a credit balance of $146,666,328, down 8.76% from January 2023.

On January 22, Diego Poma took office chairmanship of the ADAP Board of Directors for the period of 2024, of the union that has been enabling mobility and promoting the country’s economic development for more than 70 years.

For the new president of ADAP and Country Manager for the Excel Automotive group, It is crucial to work closely with government institutions to improve and simplify the operational and legal procedures faced by car dealers in Panama.

Poma pointed out that this will facilitate the development and efficiency of the car business and will allow the industry to focus on providing excellent customer service.