Five Asian brands control 46.5 percent of the car market in El Salvador, according to the National Road Safety Observatory.
The vehicle park exceeded 1.77 million units as of April 2024, with a 2.67% growth compared to the same month in 2023.
Despite the rapid growth of motorcycles, which facilitate the transfer at peak traffic times, vehicles maintain the domain with a share of 67.6 % of the market, adding more than 1.2 million units registered with the Vice-Ministry of Transport.
Motorcycles account for 576,049, 32.3 per cent of the vehicle fleet.
Of the total, more than 820,000 units are for Asian manufacturers, mainly from Japan and South Korea.
Top 5
- Japanese manufacturer Toyota holds the crown as the main brand of the Salvadoran market and worldwide. Last April, 245,909 units were reported, 13.8 per cent of the vehicle park.
- Also of Japanese origin, Nissan is the second largest manufacturer on the market with 213,347 units, 11.9 percent.
- With a history dating back to 1990 with the birth of the automotive genius, Soichiro Honda, the son of a blacksmith, the Japanese manufacturer Honda represents 8.45 percent of the market, with 150,468 units before the VMT.
- Kia, part of the South Korean Hyundai Motor Group, is the fourth best-selling brand with 117,779 units registered to the VMT. It represents 5.6 percent of the vehicle park.
- Hyundai is the fifth mark, with 100,816 units and a share of 5.6 %.
To complete the top 10
- Mitsubishi (Japan): with 80,131 units as of April, it represents 4.5 %
- Chevrolet (Detroit, USA) U.S.): represents 3.02 per cent with 53,690 cars
- Ford (EE. U.S.): it has 43.495 units and represents 2.4 %
- Mazda (Japan): with 42,790 units and represents 2.40 %
- Isuzu (Japan): with 37,712 cars and a representation of 2.12 %
Imports
After oil and its derivatives, medicines and phones, vehicles arethe goods that Salvadorans matter most.
At the end of 2023, imports exceeded the$1 billion between vehicles and cars, according to the Central Reserve Bank (CRB).
According to the institution, automotive imports increased by $76.9 million, by 8.3 percent from the $924.1 million reported in 2022. The 2023 figure is also almost double what was recorded before the pandemic, when in 2019 these purchases total $572 million.
16 percent of automotive imports come from the United States, with $161.2 million at the end of 2023. Used vehicles are mainly purchased from this market. Dealers estimate that for each new unit that enters El Salvador there are four second-hand units.
This article has been translated after first appearing in Diario El Mundo