The national car market experienced its worst year in a decade

2016, when 63,500 vehicles were sold, was the worst year of the last decade for the automotive sector in Ecuador, said Genaro Baldeón, president of the Association of Automotive Companies.

“In 2016 the automotive market contracted by more than 50%, for example in relation to 2011, when 140,000 units were sold,” he said in a radio interview.

He added that in 2017 there has been a “significant recovery, (…) close to 50%” compared to 2016. However, it is still “below 2015” and “well below” the historical average, around a 20% less, he said.

Baldeón, who stressed that “2016 was the worst year of the last decade in terms of the automotive market,” said that in the first five months of this year there has been a gradual recovery in sales (I).