With the US airstrikes on Venezuela, this country located in the northern part of South America has suddenly become the focus. Recently, the relevant data released by Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, has made Venezuela one of the key targets of attention in the domestic automotive industry. Data shows that in the first 11 months of 2025, China's exports of cars to Venezuela reached 17099 units, a year-on-year increase of 130%. Among them, there are 10201 passenger cars, 1481 trucks, 276 buses, and 141 special vehicles. Although compared to the 7.33 million vehicles (including new cars, used cars, and chassis) according to customs statistics and the 6.34 million vehicles (only including new passenger and commercial vehicles) according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the export volume of domestic car brands in Venezuela can be described as a drop in the bucket.

But looking at the world as a whole, except for the two giants of China and the United States, the size of the automobile markets in other countries is very limited, and it is these seemingly small markets that help Chinese automobile brands move towards a broader world and achieve higher achievements. Returning to Venezuela, how large is the size of this automotive market? Which domestic car companies and brands have gained favor from local consumers here, and what is their performance in the market? To answer the above doubts, collect and organize the car sales data of Venezuela in the past two years.

In 2025, China's car market share may exceed 50%

According to data released by the Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce CAVENEZ, the country's new car sales in 2024 were 17588 units, a year-on-year increase of 142%. Among them, Toyota won the championship with 7114 vehicles, while Jianghuai Automobile won with 4814 vehicles, with market shares of 40.4% and 27.4% respectively. Following closely behind, Changan sold 1698 vehicles, Ford sold 1002 vehicles, and Fiat, Foton, Hyundai, Chrysler, and Kia also ranked among the top.

In 2025, thanks to the increasing number of car brands joining and the continuous launch of new models, Venezuela's new car market will continue to recover. Except for less than 1500 vehicles in January, the total sales in all other months will exceed 2000 vehicles, especially in October and November, reaching over 4000 vehicles. The total sales in the first 11 months reached 34188 vehicles. Although the data for December has not yet been released, if the previous trend continues, it is likely to exceed 4000 vehicles, and the full year of 2025 will close at around 38000 vehicles, achieving a year-on-year growth rate of over 100% again. More noteworthy is that in the first 10 months of 2025, Jianghuai Automobile's cumulative sales exceeded Toyota's 10319 units with 11149 units, becoming the sales champion in the country's new car market. In November, the cumulative sales of the two increased to 13482 units and 11607 units, respectively. Considering that as of the end of November, Jianghuai's leading advantage has expanded to 1875 vehicles, and Toyota's highest monthly sales in the first 11 months of 2025 were 1288 vehicles in November, Jianghuai should firmly hold the top spot in brand sales in Venezuela's new car market in 2025.

The reason why Jianghuai will replace Toyota, which has long dominated the championship, in 2025 is mainly because it provides significant preferential policies, actively launches new cars, and continuously increases its dealer network while achieving localized assembly. Jianghuai will begin importing CKD parts to Venezuela for final assembly in 2024. Thanks to large-scale promotions, Jianghuai Automobile surpassed Toyota's 1164 vehicles with 1266 vehicles in March 2025 to become the champion of car brand sales at that time, which also led to its cumulative sales ranking first in March and April. However, due to the end of promotional activities and the completion of backlogged order deliveries, Jianghuai has once again fallen behind Toyota since May. Until mid September, Jianghuai announced a limited time promotion for the new Arena Sport, with a starting price of $15415 including tax, which is almost the most affordable new car in Venezuela.

In addition, Jianghuai has been continuously expanding its dealer network in 2025, and at the AUTOFEST International Auto, Motorcycle and Parts Exhibition held in Caracas, Venezuela at the end of October, participating brands have provided special preferential policies for consumers, and Jianghuai is no exception. Therefore, starting from October, Jianghuai's sales exceeded the threshold of 2000 vehicles and reached 2103 vehicles, and continued to increase to over 2300 vehicles in November. Based on this calculation, the total sales volume of Jianghuai in Venezuela is likely to reach over 15000 vehicles by 2025, which is three times that of 2024. In the first 11 months of 2025, Jianghuai's market share in Venezuela was 39.3%. In addition, Changan and Foton, which also made it to the top ten list, set a new historical high in recent years. The combined market share of these three independent brands alone reached 48.9%, far exceeding the 42% in 2024.

In addition, independent car companies such as Chery, Beijing, Great Wall Motors, and MG also sell in Venezuela, but as they are not registered with CAVENEZ, specific sales figures cannot be obtained. For example, by early 2025, Great Wall Motors had officially entered the Chinese market, and as of mid December, over 1000 units of its Fengjun pickup trucks, Haval, and tanks had been sold. This means that by 2025, the market share of domestic car brands in Venezuela is highly likely to exceed 50%, and total sales may exceed 20000 units.

The roadblock that emerged halfway through 02

In fact, in addition to the efforts of car companies themselves, another important reason for the significant increase in sales of car brands and even the entire Venezuelan new car market from the fourth quarter of 2025 is that Venezuela announced in October 2025 that import tariffs on car parts would be waived for 12 months. This policy applies to car assemblers and parts manufacturers registered in Venezuela who purchase parts from abroad.

This is significant good news for all car brands selling in Venezuela and those looking to enter the country's market. In recent years, due to the extremely small market size, Venezuela's domestic automobile manufacturing industry has been almost stagnant. According to CAVENEZ's data, Venezuela's new car sales in 2022 and 2023 were approximately 8300 and 7313 respectively, while the country's car production was only 76 and 61 respectively, with most of them limited to truck and chassis assembly. With the addition of Jianghuai, the number of car manufacturers assembling in Venezuela has increased to four, with the other three being Mack (an American truck brand), Iveco, and Encava (a local Venezuelan brand that produces buses, tricycles, trucks, and trailers). By 2024, the country's car production will soar to 4384 units, accounting for 24.9% of sales. The assembly volume for the first seven months of 2025 will continue to increase to 6459 units, but the proportion of 18070 units sold will still be only 35.7%.

Not only new cars, but almost all the components used for assembling cars in Venezuela are also imported. Omar Bautista, the chairman of Venezuelan automaker Favenpa, has stated that in reality, all vehicles sold in the country are imported, as 109% of the parts of vehicles assembled domestically are imported. In other words, in recent years, most of the new cars and car parts sold in Venezuela have relied on imports. Originally benefiting from the exemption policy of import tariffs, the prices of new cars sold in Venezuela will be reduced before October 2026, resulting in a slow increase in new car sales and production. Unexpectedly, the US airstrike on Venezuela in early January caused political turmoil in the country, and the trend of the country's car market this year is expected to experience severe turbulence. The sales of Chinese brands will also be greatly affected.