OFF THE CUFF: car sales boom, traffic stagnates

IF YOU HAVE wondered when Panama’s traffic nightmare is going to ease don’t read the new car sales figures. They are up more than  five percent over last year, and predicted to continue on the same trajectory with Asian vehicles leading the way.

While drivers with business or medical appointments watch the minutes turn into hours The dealers in Japanese and Korean vehicles are smiling all the way to the bank, If they can get there.
The new subway has done little to alleviate the problem, counting few car owners among its travelers and in spite of repeated trumpet blasts from City Hall, the promised underground parking lots never materialized and those who promised to ease the problem have themselves gone underground.
Asian brands accounted for 92.4% of total sales in the top 10 sales ranking, while Chevrolet and Ford scraped by with 7.6%.
From January to August 2014 38,034 new vehicles hit the roads, representing an increase of 5% over the same period in 2013 when 36,190 units, were sold, according to the Association of Panama Automobile Dealers (ADAP).
In Japanese Toyotas remained the bestselling brand continuing its lead over the South Korean Hyundai.
In 2013 Toyota put lation 11, 936 units, into circulation an increase of 15% over 2012,( 10,360 units.)
Currently an average of new 4,754 vehicles are sold monthly, according to Adap, which has 37 members.