Colombia & Ecuador Production by Brand : 2014

Renault Sofasa assembly line in Colombia 

They assemble vehicles in Colombia, in case you were asking the question. Virtually all the Renault cars are really Dacia models, and many are exported. The drop in Mazda production signals the end of assembly in the country. With Colombia making trade deals with many countries, the challenge is whether it is viable to make cars there. Time will tell.

	10	11	12	13	14	Model	2014	Share	+ / -
	2	2	1	1	1	Renault	68,453	51%	-8%
	1	1	1	2	2	Chevrolet	55,966	42%	31%
	4	4	4	4	3	Hino	5,742	4%	46%
	3	3	3	3	4	Mazda	4,319	3%	-41%
						Total	134,480		5%

Data source: ANDINA.

Head south and you are in Ecuador. The assembly lines were not quite as busy as they had been in 2013, as the economy is doing it tough at the moment. Import restrictions have been recently applied to encourage the local car assembly industry.

				13	14	Model	2014	Share	+ / -
				1	1	Chevrolet	23,557	37%	-6%
				3	2	Isuzu	13,571	22%	32%
				2	3	Kia	10,395	16%	-26%
				4	4	Suzuki	9,600	15%	4%
				5	5	Mazda	5,990	9%	-20%
						Total	63,113		-6%

Data source: AEADE.

Summary: To make cars competitively today, volume is essential. Unless a market is huge, a nation cannot make vehicles just for itself and be cost effective. It is apparent that is why Mazda is opting out of Colombia. The amount of cars made in Ecuador isn't great enough and only protection will keep car assembly going. 

Sweden Car Sales By Brand : 1980-84

In 1983, the 240 model (Photo Volvo)

In this five year period, nothing much happened in Sweden. Total sales were stable, with Volvo taking it's share from 25.9% in 1979 to 28.6% in 1983 and falling back slightly in 1984. Still, Volvo was now truly established a the major player by this time. Saab was on the other hand falling back in market share despite a small gain in sales.

As for non-local brands, the growth that Japanese makes had enjoyed since arriving was leveling off. Simca ended, replaced by the Talbot brand but was soon sinking as well. BLMC was all but gone, while Subaru arrived.

	Brand	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984
	Volvo	50,547	49,766	57,522	62,012	62,495
	Saab	27,619	26,741	30,562	29,270	29,610
	Ford	16,909	21,128	22,407	21,556	25,539
	Opel	17,527	15,917	22,184	20,847	21,957
	VW	18,683	20,002	21,369	17,509	19,179
	Mazda	8,392	9,439	10,800	12,269	10,926
	Toyota	8,718	5,790	8,288	8,646	8,719
	Datsun	4,968	4,307	6,282	5,862	7,945
	Audi	3,992	4,067	4,901	4,616	6,899
	Mercedes	6,263	5,696	6,300	5,854	6,270
	Fiat	4,242	2,693	3,698	4,484	4,707
	BMW	2,375	2,909	3,644	4,113	4,266
	Peugeot	3,634	2,394	2,593	3,568	3,744
	Honda	4,309	3,470	4,459	2,986	3,484
	Citroën	2,113	2,317	2,300	2,816	3,358
	Renault	4,559	2,341	2,480	2,222	2,537
	Lancia	604	601	396	1,087	2,215
	Mitsubishi	3	1,881	1,504	1,614	1,814
	Lada/VAZ	3,005	3,092	2,948	2,244	1,646
	Alfa Romeo	498	477	557	810	1,118
	Daihatsu	715	931	1,396	1,065	1,049
	Subaru			476	638	620
	Talbot	1,642	1,590	590	337	312
	Porsche	97	110	163	209	293
	Skoda	252	319	405	375	286
	GM US	737	436	166	87	65
	BLMC	249	55	17	17	40
	Simca	700	32
	Others	35	21	21	10	28
	Total	193,387	188,522	218,428	217,123	231,121

Data source: ABStatistik.

All other articles in the series: 1950-54, 1955-59, 1960-64, 1965-69, 1970-74,
1975-79, 1985-89, 1990-94, 1995-99, 2000-04, 2005-09, and 2010-14.

Simca Car Production By Model : 1980-87

I don't know what Peugeot had in mind when taking over Chrysler Europe. There were benefits to doing so seeing as it got the company without cost and the assets of the company were worth something. If it planned to kick start what had now become the Talbot brand back into life, that idea was soon put to bed. Instead production quickly reduced and ended by 1987.

In reality, trying to resurrect the company was not likely. Putting Talbot logos on PSA cars was the obvious way to go but didn't happen. What was once the Simca car brand was simply absorbed into PSA.

Year	Horizon	1307	Samba	Rancho	1100	Tagora	CKD	Total
		Solara
1980	158,800	116,500	-	9,800	41,700	500	50,000	377,300
1981	100,400	60,100	18,500	13,800	19,900	15,700	94,179	322,579
1982	71,300	42,400	104,300	8,600	12,800	2,600	27,216	269,216
1983	59,100	29,000	81,800	6,000	14,600	1,300	85,296	277,096
1984	64,138	22,178	44,926	77	-	-	76,144	207,463
1985	24,352	17,426	18,946	-	-	-	50,776	111,500
1986	5,800	3,100	6,700	-	-	-	13,440	29,040
1987	1,000	-	-	-	-	-	2,600	3,600

Data source: Freyssenet.com

Solara: In 1980, a saloon version of the 1307/Alpine hatchback was released. Nearly 70,000 were made in 1980, but production fell away after that. 

Samba: This mini car came as a 3-door hatchback or 2-door cabriolet and was based on the Peugeot 104. It was the only Simca engineered by PSA. Production slumped as the company was wound down. 

Tagora: It was an executive car to replace the 180 series and was an even bigger flop, if that was possible. 

Summary: The once successful Simca car make came to an undignified end. What started out in the 1930's by Fiat ended up being assimilated by the PSA Group. With so many brands making mainstream cars, it's hard to see how things could have worked out any other way for Simca.

For others in the series, simply click on the dates: 1947-59, 1960-69, and 1970-79.