Dominican Republic vehicles market falls due to the global pandemic affecting sales. Indeed, Full Year 2020 sales have been 13.318, down 36.6% compared to 2019. Hyundai leads the market, while the top 3 brands lose market share.
Economic Environment
The economy contracted 7.2% in Q3 according to preliminary data, much milder than Q2’s 16.9% collapse. The softer drop was likely due to an incipient recovery in tourism following the reopening of borders in July.
Moreover, remittances surged in the quarter as the U.S. labor market recovered, which should have buttressed private consumption. However, the economic panorama was still downbeat: The hotels, bars, and restaurant subsector fell, as visitor arrivals were still down sharply year-on-year, while the retail and transport sectors also declined. Turning to Q4, momentum should be improving, with visitor arrivals likely up from Q3.
However, the extension of the curfew in mid-October will continue weighing on domestic activity, while Haiti’s decision to impose a USD 800 fee on the Dominican Republic’s exports will hurt the external sector—Haiti is the country’s second most important trading partner.
Market Trend
The Dominican Republic vehicle market has been affected in 2020 by the global COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted sales significantly.
The new vehicle market had reported a strong increase in 2016 when the new all-time record was established at 24.396 units. In 2017 sales declined back at 21.425 units (-16%) and were more in line with the average volume in this decade. In 2018, registrations reported a shy recovery. Indeed, the year ended with sales at 21.300, up just 1.3%.
However, in 2019 the market went back on a negative track. Indeed, Year to Date November sales have been 19.288, projecting the full year to 20.996, down 1.5%.
Full-Year sales for 2020 have been 13.318, reporting a 36.6% decrease compared to 2019.
Brand-wise, this year the leader Hyundai (-38.8%) lost 0.8% market share, followed by Kia (-37.3%), which lost 0.2% share. Toyota (-39.1%) was in the third position and lost 0.6% market share.
The most sold model in the country is the Hyundai Tucson with 1.485 sales (-39.6%), holding 11.2% market share.
