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Final Up to date on: sixth Could 2025, 04:16 pm
Just lately, we revealed an article from Mario Duran about Costa Rica’s continued management within the area. Because of Mario’s work, we even have an in depth report on Costa Rica’s EV gross sales by mannequin, so we determined to make an article particularly about this.
Costa Rica’s BEV market rose quickly in 2024, rising practically 100% in comparison with 2023 and reaching over 11,000 items (in a complete market of ~75,000 items). One other means of that is that extra BEVs had been bought in 2024 than in all years prior. Because of this, Costa Rica’s market share rose to fifteen.4% that 12 months.
Overview: Gross sales per Mannequin in 2024
Costa Rica’s BEV adoption is fueled by entry to reasonably priced electrical automobiles, many occasions at related price to their gasoline counterparts. Explosive progress was triggered initially by the arrival of Gelly’s Geometry E in 2023, and costs have gone even decrease from then.
The Geometry E stays one of the best money-for-value EV in Costa Rica, and unsurprisingly leads the gross sales ranks, adopted by the BYD Seagull and the BYD S1 PRO (BYD Yuan Up/Atto2). These three fashions account for over a 3rd of complete gross sales. Bear in mind the costs proven within the chart are price of buy in China, insurance coverage, and freight, and don’t essentially characterize the associated fee to the ultimate client in Costa Rica.
No different mannequin comes shut to those three, with the fourth (Chery EQ7) reaching a mere 375 items. When searching for quantity, it’s exhausting to beat affordability.
Costa Rica’s market has a number of particularities, making it totally different from different markets within the area. First, it has two massive firms preventing for dominance (BYD and Geely) as an alternative of merely being a BYD playground (as is, for instance, Uruguay). Second, it has a really massive variety of fashions, a lot of which boast respectable gross sales, making it probably the most aggressive markets within the area. And third, and most essential, Costa Rica has a lot of personal imports (therefore the desire for the CIF value), with numerous costumers preferring to purchase instantly from China and pay the charges themselves with a purpose to avoid wasting cash. That is why Costa Rica’s rankings aren’t primarily based upon registrations (which may take months after the supply of the automobile), however imports. Thanks to those personal importers, Costa Rica boasts the presence of many automobiles unseen elsewhere within the area, together with the Chery ICar and the Chinese language-made VW ID.4 and Toyota BZ4X.
Closing Ideas
The Costa Rican market stands because the regional chief, however in 2025 it will appear its management is getting an increasing number of challenged. Development has been comparatively gradual (+17%), and amidst booming ICEV gross sales (+18%), market share has barely grown, staying round 16%. Uruguay, in the meantime, is presenting a lot increased progress and getting ever nearer to Costa Rica market share sensible, and that is earlier than the rise in taxes for EVs kicks in up within the Central American nation. Ought to present developments proceed, 2025 will finish with Uruguay within the lead.
Costa Rica can be affected by an absence of charging infrastructure, one thing partly in charge on present laws, as personal operators are presently not allowed to offer cost to EVs, limiting the deployment of charging stations to these of electrical energy suppliers. There’s a mission being debated within the nation’s Congress of Deputies to finish this restriction, one thing that can little doubt assist the transition.
Costa Rica stays a frontrunner and a regional instance, but as Mario mentioned, now comes a tough interval within the transition: going from the early adopters to the early majority with out shedding steam (as seen, for instance, in Europe). In equity, Costa Rica has rather a lot going for it, and even when momentum is dropping in current weeks, it ought to make the leap to that “early majority” with out many hurdles. That is particularly the case with extra reasonably priced and aggressive EVs coming from China (and extra just lately South Korea) each month.
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