Best Selling Cars Around The Globe: Panama Is Getting Hooked On Hyundais

Matt Gasnier
by Matt Gasnier

Over the last few weeks we have visited Bangladesh, Venezuela, the USA in 1986 and Cambodia. May I interest you in a little trip back to the Americas this week to Panama?

No? OK fine, if you don’t want to go there, I’ve prepared 155 other countries for you to visit in my blog, and I can tell you it is muy bien, so click away!

The interesting thing about car sales in Panama is the way Hyundai is progressively establishing itself as the ‘go-to’ brand there, with 3 models in the Top 4 so far this year…

But first to the pole position: as it was the case in 2010, the Toyota Hilux is the best-selling model in Panama over the first 8 months of 2011 with 1,981 sales.

You may be surprised to learn that Panama is only one of 28 countries in the world where the Hilux is atop the ranking… Yes 28! No other car does better, and you can see the full list here.

Weekly bit of trivia: tick!

Below the Toyota Hilux is a full Hyundai armada:

The new generation Hyundai Accent is #2 with 1,733 sales, it was even #1 between May and July!

Down from #2 in 2010, the Hyundai Tucson IX (aka Hyundai ix35) ranks #3 in the 2011 year-to-date ranking at 1,632 units…

… and the new generation Hyundai Elantra is #4 with 1,098 sales but is up to #2 in August at 256 units.

As I said earlier, that’s 3 Hyundais in the Top 4 and by far Hyundai’s best year ever in the country. In fact, last October Hyundai sold the biggest amount of cars in a single month by any brand in Panama, with 1,409 models sold.

Further down in the ranking you will find the Toyota RAV4, Nissan Frontier…

…Kia Rio, Nissan Tiida and Nissan Navara.

The best-selling models in Panama over 8 months 2011:

PosModel8m 2011AugustPos201020101Toyota Hilux1,98130712,32212Hyundai Accent GL1,7339271,78633Hyundai Tucson IX1,63220432,04624Hyundai Elantra1,0982562 – –5Toyota RAV4974110694396Nissan Frontier895126497687Kia Rio809868 – –8Nissan Tiida7261105 –9Nissan Navara70953119171010Kia Sportage7008091,111510Honda CR-V70056101,0297

Figures are sourced from the Registro Único Vehicular.

Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world.

Matt Gasnier
Matt Gasnier

More by Matt Gasnier

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 3 comments
  • Volt 230 Volt 230 on Oct 03, 2011

    BTW Not one single American car on that list, we just keep losing ground all over the world, except China, of course.

  • John R John R on Nov 08, 2011

    A little late on this, but lovin' to see the hometown prove me right in my purchase. :)

  • Akear Does anyone care how the world's sixth largest carmaker conducts business. Just a quarter century ago GM was the world's top carmaker. [list=1][*]Toyota Group: Sold 10.8 million vehicles, with a growth rate of 4.6%.[/*][*]Volkswagen Group: Achieved 8.8 million sales, growing sharply in America (+16.6%) and Europe (+20.3%).[/*][*]Hyundai-Kia: Reported 7.1 million sales, with surges in America (+7.9%) and Asia (+6.3%).[/*][*]Renault Nissan Alliance: Accumulated 6.9 million sales, balancing struggles in Asia and Africa with growth in the Americas and Europe.[/*][*]Stellantis: Maintained the fifth position with 6.5 million sales, despite substantial losses in Asia.[/*][*]General Motors, Honda Motor, and Ford followed closely with 6.2 million, 4.1 million, and 3.9 million sales, respectively.[/*][/list=1]
  • THX1136 A Mr. J. Sangburg, professional manicurist, rust repairer and 3 times survivor is hoping to get in on the bottom level of this magnificent property. He has designs to open a tea shop and used auto parts store in the facility as soon as there is affordable space available. He has stated, for the record, "You ain't seen anything yet and you probably won't." Always one for understatement, Mr. Sangburg hasn't been forthcoming with any more information at this time. You can follow the any further developments @GotItFiguredOut.net.
  • TheEndlessEnigma And yet government continues to grow....
  • TheEndlessEnigma Not only do I not care about the move, I do not care about GM....gm...or whatever it calls itself.
  • Redapple2 As stated above, gm now is not the GM of old. They say it themselves without realizing it. New logo: GM > gm. As much as I dislike my benefactor (gm spent ~ $200,000 on my BS and MS) I try to be fair, a smart business makes timely decisions based on the reality of the current (and future estimates) situation. The move is a good one.
Next