Perú Car/LCV Sales : 2026 (Jan-Aug)

The list below covers the top 25 brands and premium ones. An unusual way to present data, but that is how it comes from AAP. 

Vehicle registrations are up an impressive 40% YTD, so things are going along very strongly. Toyota sales are up 22%, yet it has lost 11% of its market share compared to a complete 2025. The Big T took the lead from Hyundai in 2018 and is now well ensconced at the top.

Chinese brand Jetour is now in the top five, with its share up 73% and sales up 152%. Geely, JAC and Chery make five Chinese brands in the top ten. DFSK dropped out of it with market share halved.

Photo: Jetour (Dashing) Perú. Geely (GX3 Pro) Perú.

Panamá Car/LCV Sales: 2026 (Jan-Aug)

Panamá has many brands, a trend that is happening in many countries. The arrival of so many Chinese makes is the reason. Toyota is still the choice for over one in six buyers, Hyundai and Kia above one in ten. Yet there are some loss of sales, spread fairly evenly across all the legacy brands. 

The 212 is a rugged off road jeep style vehicle made by BAW. As the picture shows, it's ideal in jungle and that covers a large part of the country. Rox is another Chinese brand, which makes premium electric SUV's. As seen below, not so much for conquering the jungle as glamping. 

Argentina Car/LCV Sales: 2026 (Jan-Aug)

Registrations were down 19% in August and down 13% YTD. Toyota has led since 2021, when it took over from VW. They both have taken a hit in their market share as has Renault and Jeep. 

Import duty on fully built up vehicle has given local manufacturers protection. It's complicated. Vehicles imported from MERCOSUR  nations (Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia) are tariff free. Mexico (quota-based) and Ecuador have reduced or zero tariffs on light vehicles. 

Up to 50,000 units of electric and hybrid vehicles can be imported tariff free annually. This especially benefits vehicles from China but how the 50k limit is applied if reached I'm unsure. It could explain why the top brands have reduced market share. 

Data source: ACARA. Photo: VW (Amarok).

Chile Passenger Car Sales : 2026 (Jan-July)

Registrations weredown 7% in July but up 7% YTD. Suzuki's 10.5% market share is the best since 2008. It was also enough to secure the top spot. Hyundai and Kia are similar in terms of volume. Toyota is next, just 33 behind Kia, so it is really tight among those three. 

Chinese brands are popular and are still pushing hard but can they go all the way and take the top places? There is some work to do if that is the ambition.

Data source: ANAC. Photos Suzuki Fronx & Kia Soluto. 

Brazil PC/LCV Sales : 2026 (Jan-Jun)

Registrations were up 28% in June and 20% YTD. That's quite an increase considering the size of the numbers involved. Various sources need to be accessed to put the list below and none quite match the each other. 

Legacy brands are feeling the heat from a wave of Chinese entrants. Most have lost share while most Chinese brands ahve gained ground. To be a large player, there needs to be local assembly to avoid tariffs and they are doing just that. 

Fiat is still top, ahead of Volkswagen and GM. VW easily sold more cars than Fiat, but the latter is very dominant in LCVs so is top overall. As this data includes light commercial vehicles, that lessens the impact of what legacy brands are losing. They still have a strong presence in that area. 

Data sources: Mainly Anfavea, Fenebrave. 
Photo source: Fiat Brazil (Fastback) & VW Brazil (Tiguan). 

Uruguay Passenger Car Sales : 2026 (Jan-Jun)

Registrations were up 28% YTD with 26,790 cars and SUVs delivered. Chinese brands are taking over and that's not unexpected. Value pricing is tempting everywhere. 

BYD has taken the top spot for the second year. It replaced Chevrolet in 2025 when it doubled its sales while Chevrolet slipped by 17%. Things are settling down now. Total volume is up 28% and BYD had a 12% increase in market share, so still going well.

Volkswagen and Hyundai are both well down as is Renault. Geely and Dongfeng  are not far off replacing them. That's a trend that happening right down the list.

Photos: Chevrolet Uruguay (Onix & Tracker).

Venezuela Car Sales : 2026 (Jan-Apr - Top 10)

The economy is growing, although high inflation is still an issue. This after a terrible time of economic collapse and hypeinflation. 

JAC's are hitting the road in increasing numbers and that with a huge market share of 43%. The fact that the five months of this year are almost equal to a complete 2024 shows rapid progress.  

Top sellers:

JAC Arena 2,511
Toyota Aygo 1,864
JAC Venezolana 1,331 (Photo above).

Data source: CAVANEZ. 

<

Colombia Car Sales : 2026 (Jan-Apr)

The speed and detail of data for Colombia is an example of efficiency and openness. Regitrations were up 50% YTD, which is impressive. Kia is enjoying its third year at the top and the gap is widening. Renault took over from Chevrolet in 2017 and held the top spot for seven consecutive years. Now it is falling away. 

Tesla has had a remarkable upturn in sales after several years of doing next to nothing. The Model Y is the top selling model in 2026, with 5,900 units delivered. The Kia Picanto and Renault Duster are next. 

Data source: ANDEMOS. Photo: Tesla (Model Y).

Venezuela Sales : 2025

I used to write about Venezuela, sales by brand and sales by model data provided by Cavanez. Local assembly collapsed and car sales all but dried up. Then things have recently taken a turn for the better. Reports in the media indicated the industry was returning and local assembly was growing.

In 2022, 8,300 vehicles were sold, dropping to 7,313 the following year. In 2024, a jump to 17,558 units. For 2023, just 72 vehicles were assembled and then in 2024 4,384 units. This was still tiny compared to the boom times. Back in 2007, nearly half a million vehicles were delivered in what has always been a volatile market. 

Still, huge pent up demand is finally being addressed. In a country where a used car can cost more than a new one, any respite would be most welcome. 

To the right is a chart of sales that have been released to the public. 

Chinese brand JAC is doing really well, with vehicles hitting the road in numbers. 

Toyota was top in 2024, but despite an 80% increase, it yielded its top spot. Changan retained its third place.

I usually do market share variance but in this instance the extreme right column (Inc +/-) is sales variance. In this case all going up.

To the left are the top ten models for 2025. JAC has used unique local names for its models. The Arena is the JS2 and the Nevado the JS4. The Venezolana and Aventura are the Frison T6 and T9. 

As to how the current political situation will affect vehicle sales going forward is uncertain. The demand is there but there are many other factors that need to align in order to push sales forward. 

Data Cavanez. Photos JAC Venezuela (Arena & Adventura).

Brazil Top 50 Models: 2025

Looking down the list, the mixture of colours shows the diversity of the market. Not having a local brand to support adds to that. 

Europe is strong but so too is the USA and increasingly China. Japan is not far off the pace but apart from two models, Korea is not represented. 

The leading model is the Fiat Strada, which is a small leisure vehicle/pick uptruck. The VW Polo and Chevrolet Onix are tussling it out for second the spot.

Brazil has a large car assembly industry. The country recently started phasing in increased tariffs on imported electric and hybrid cars. Renenue raised will be used to encourage local manufacturing of more sustainable vehicles. 

It will also raise tariffs on cars assembled from kits which designed to encourage more manufacturing locally, adding value to the assembly. 

Photos: Fiat (Strada) & GM (Onix) Brasil. 

Panamá Top 20 Models: 2025

It's of note that all the models here are of Asian origin. The three colours highlight where from.

Photos: Toyota Hilux & Hyundai Venue.

Brazil Passenger Car Sales : 2025

From the outset, I'd like to point out that there are various sources in Brazil and the data never quite aligns. It's not a major issue though. Another thing is that some of the small brands are not included or are on an intermittent basis. 

Registrations were up 3% for the year and up 8% compared to the average over the previous ten years. VW has held the lead since 2023 with GM and Fiat having been on top in years before that. 

The top four rankings from last year are repeated although Chrysler (Jeep mainly) swapped places with Toyota. BYD moving into seventh place is an improvement of three. Renault has dropped two but overall there isn't much change on last year. 

For 2024 articles, simply click on the links below:

By brand.

Top 50 Models.

Data: Anfavea (mainly). Pictures: VW (Virtus) & Fiat (Argo) Brasil.

Panamá Car & LCV Sales : 2025

Registrations were +11% in 2025 and up 22% when compared to the average over the previous ten years. 2025 is not a record year, but certainly up there. 

Toyota took the lead in Panamá during 2014 and hasn't looked back. It's 19% market share is substantial in a market not protecting local manufacturers through import duties. 

Kia and Hyundai also do well but then it drops away quite sharply. Geely and Suzuki are just over the 5% share mark. Asian brands are the most popular with many new Chinese ones adding to that. 

In all, ninety brands are competing here in the passenger car and light commercial sector. Despite that, as we have seen, the big guns are still firing plenty of shots back. 

Perú Car/LCV Sales : 2025

The market was up 24% YTD so a record year. 2025 was up 38% on the average for the previous ten years! The top 25 brands plus premium ones are available from AAP and that is what is shown below. 

The Share column highlights market share movement, not volume. Many that appear to be selling less have increased sales but not kept pace with the brisk increase.  

Toyota is comfortably the top brand with 20.5% of the market. 

Hyundai and Kia shadow each other closely with a combined 18.3% share. 

The Chinese brands are now well established. JAC is a regular in the top 10, the JS2 to the right. 

Changan has passed Chevrolet into fourth place. In sixth place is DFSK and the Glory 600 model is shown above. Ford has gone up three spots but Suzuki has lost three and Nissan is down seven places to 14th. So it is quite volatile. 

None of the premium marques make the top 25 but I assume BMW must be very close to doing so. It would be nice to have more information to confirm that, but at least we can get a reasonable picture of the situation. 

Colombia Top 50 Model Sales : 2025

The models below are colour coded to reflect their origin. The diversity stands out. Japan is the most represented in the chart (17), ahead of Europe (14) and Korea (13). 

The Renault Duster became the best selling model, displacing the Mazda CX-30 which I was surprised was so popular. 

Photos: Hyundai (Kona) & Toyota (Prado) Colombia. 

Data source: ANDEMOS. 

Colombia Passenger Car Sales : 2025

Registrations were up 26% which meant that most brands increased their volume. However, the 'Share' column below reveals who gained or lost market share. I included taxi registrations as they are passenger cars. Sales are up 6% compared to the average for the last ten years. 

Kia confirmed its top spot for a second year, having displaced Renault in 2023. It has extended its lead this year. Chevrolet was the number one brand back in 2016 but has now slipped to sixth. As is often the case, a jump in sales generally isn't replicated with premium marques.   

Nearly 4,700 new taxis joined the fleet, with Kia and Hyundai accounting for nearly 3,800 of them. It seems people are switching taxis for cars with taxi sales dropping 11.5% compared to the hike in car sales.

Data source: ANDEMOS. Picture sources: Kia & Renault.

Uruguay Top 30 Passenger Car Models : 2005

With the models coloured according to the place of origin they are associated with, it makes for a varied pattern. BYD leads the market if no commercial vehicles are included; third if light commercials are added. 

Data source: ACAU.

Photos: BYD Uruguay. The Yuan Pro (top) & Seagull (below).