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Final Up to date on: sixth Could 2025, 04:16 pm
Just lately, we printed an article from Mario Duran about Costa Rica’s continued leadership in the region. 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 almost 100% in comparison with 2023 and reaching over 11,000 items (in a complete market of ~75,000 items). One other manner of taking a look at 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 autos, many occasions at related value 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 the most effective 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. Take into accout the costs proven within the chart are value of buy in China, insurance coverage, and freight, and don’t essentially characterize the price 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 arduous 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 giant 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 giant variety of fashions, a lot of which boast respectable gross sales, making it some of the aggressive markets within the area. And third, and most essential, Costa Rica has numerous personal imports (therefore the choice for the CIF value), with plenty of costumers preferring to purchase instantly from China and pay the charges themselves in an effort to avoid wasting cash. That is why Costa Rica’s rankings should not based mostly upon registrations (which might take months after the supply of the car), however imports. Thanks to those personal importers, Costa Rica boasts the presence of many autos unseen elsewhere within the area, together with the Chery ICar and the Chinese language-made VW ID.4 and Toyota BZ4X.
Ultimate Ideas
The Costa Rican market stands because the regional chief, however in 2025 it could appear its management is getting increasingly more challenged. Progress 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 much higher growth and getting ever nearer to Costa Rica market share clever, and that is earlier than the rise in taxes for EVs kicks in up within the Central American nation. Ought to present traits proceed, 2025 will finish with Uruguay within the lead.
Costa Rica can also be affected by a scarcity of charging infrastructure, one thing partly guilty on present laws, as personal operators are at present not allowed to supply cost to EVs, limiting the deployment of charging stations to these of electrical energy suppliers. There’s a undertaking 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 stated, now comes a troublesome interval within the transition: going from the early adopters to the early majority with out dropping steam (as seen, for instance, in Europe). In equity, Costa Rica has so much going for it, and even when momentum is dropping in current weeks, it ought to make the soar 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 not too long ago South Korea) each month.
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