Mexico, Brazil Out Front in Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Sales in Latin America

Bloomberg Línea — Hybrid and electric vehicles continue to gain ground in Latin American, while the combustion vehicle segment has been affected by the supply chain crisis and price increases in both new and used models.

During the first half of this year, sales of hybrid and electric vehicles increased by 37.7% in eight Latin American countries, according to data from vehicle associations and official authorities in each country.

In total, between January and June of this year, 67,255 new models of this segment were sold in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and the Dominican Republic.

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For the same period, sales of fully electric vehicles (EVs) grew 189.8%, with 5,410 models sold in the region; plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) sales increased by 175.9%, with 6,945 models; and electric hybrid vehicle sales grew by 23.4%, with 54,900 models, according to information compiled by the National Association of Sustainable Mobility (Andemos-Colombia).

Mexico and Brazil lead in sales, with the two countries recording a combined registration of 37,042 hybrid and electric vehicles in the first half of 2021, while while for the same period of 2022 registrations totaled 42,654.

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In third place is Colombia, which went from 6,890 units sold in the first half of last year to 12,767 in the first half of this year, consolidating its position as the third most important player in this market, and with a current share of 20.5% in the region.

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Ecuador and Chile are also seeing growth in sales, with 3,636 and 3,320 electric and hybrid vehicles sold in the first half of the year, respectively, and which are increases of 128% in Ecuador and 189.2% in Chile in comparison with the same period of 2021.

Argentina follows (with 1,890 models sold), Peru (1,190) and Costa Rica (798), and which have seen sales growth of more than 50% this year compared to the first half of 2021.

For Oliverio García, president of Andemos, the increased use of electric and hybrid vehicles is key to consolidating the energy transition in the countries of the region.