SUVs lead  6.6% growth in new vehicle sales

In the first eight months of the year, 26,370  vehicle units were sold, leaving a positive balance of 6.6% against the accumulated figure for the same period last year, according to the Comptroller General.

Bogdan Batinovich, president of the Association of Car Dealers of Panama (Adap), said that the fall registered in July was the product of the closure of roads and the Inter-American highway, which caused a shortage of vehicles and spare parts in some parts of the country, with greater affectations in the central provinces and Chiriquí.

Of the total sales up to the month of August, 48% were SUVs (sports utility vehicles). Compared to sales reported in the first 8 months of 2021, this year they have increased by 24.8%.

Other varieties that registered a positive balance until August were minivans with an increase of 10%; buses, 62%; and trucks, 18.4%.

Demand for regular or sedan-type models has fallen 11% between January and August, while the sale of panels and pickups closed August with a decrease of 1.8% and 7.1%, respectively.

For this year it had been projected that sales of new cars would reach 45,000 units, but the protests in July, added to problems in production worldwide due to shortages of microchips and semiconductors, it is expected that 2022 will close with a volume of 41,000 vehicles sold, exceeding the 38,141 of 2021, but still far from the 47,866 reported in 2019.

Due to the mobility restrictions applied in 2020 as a result of the pandemic), sales of new cars plummeted 49% to 24,091 units.