The pickups represent 13% of the vehicle fleet in El Salvador. /Francisco Valle
The demand for collections, whose units in the new segment can exceed $60,000, is fueled by distant brothers and Salvadorans looking for some “status”.
Social media users have shared amazing photos of large vans circulating through Salvadoran streets, which are very popular in the United States and do not even fit in parking lots because they are designed for small vehicles.
José Roberto Renderos, regional manager of Nissan, confirmed that the demand for the large vehicle sector is maintained by businessmen, and Salvadorans living abroad are looking for pickups, mainly with diesel engines.
“In the eastern branches, diesel is the biggest. They come to buy it because they send their remittances, they have a way to finance them from there (US) or from here, because they know how the cash flow works,” said Renderos.
The eastern area receives 30.1% of family remittances entering El Salvador, where the San Miguel area is the second destination throughout the country for sending money from distant siblings, with a share of 6% and only San Salvador is higher (10%).
The request “boom”.
Although the industry has not measured how many diaspora purchases in the new segment, Renderos admitted that “in the last three years, demand has skyrocketed.” “As in real estate, it’s the same phenomenon, a lot of consumption,” he said.
However, fears of a recession and the election process in the United States caused a “slight drag” on new unit sales in 2024, which accounted for 93% of household shipments.
The spokesman for the manufacturer, the second in the Salvadoran market, admitted that large pickup trucks also enter the country as second-hand imports.
Pickups are the third type of vehicle with the highest participation in the vehicle fleet, with 251,104 units registered with the Vice Ministry of Transport (VMT) and equal to 13.8% of the more than 1.8 million units that circulate on Salvadoran streets.
These vehicles are surpassed only by sedan-type cars and motorcycles, according to a report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, corresponding to July 2024.
Renderos indicated that the auto industry is seeing 3% growth at the end of 2024 with sales of more than 25,000 new units, largely driven by pickups, SUVs and trucks, although orders for new sedans “dead”.