title: MORE AND MORE CARS
/LATIN AMERICA
Excessive car density in Latin American mega-cities is not a new issue. In the ’90s, Sao Paulo had more than twice the number of cars as New York City, which had about the same population...
- in Mexico City, the number of private cars per 1,000 inhabitants soared from 78 in 1976, to 178 in 2000;
- Santiago, Chile, had nearly 90 automobiles per 1,000 residents in 1991, almost 70% higher than the national average. Cars now account for 26% of travel within cities (measured as passenger-kilometres) and 41% between cities. Public transportation has been losing market share for decades. The transportation sector is responsible for about 28% of GHG emissions in Chile. Of the total GHG emissions from transportation, 45% are from cars and taxis;
- good economic condition in Chile is favouring the sales of cars in the country. 119,526 cars were sold in 2003. The import of cars in 2004 went up by 31.1% to reach 150,400 units. In 2001, the Chilean automobile fleet was estimated at 1.8 million private cars, 120,000 taxis, 156,000 trucks and 14,000 buses. According to The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) , in Peru, at end-2003 1.3million motor vehicles were licensed, just under 50% of which were passenger cars. This figure is equivalent to 22.9 cars per 1,000 people, compared with Chile’s ratio of 114 per 1,000 people (it was only 45.3 in 1980);
- in Brazil, there were 74.7 cars per 1,000 inhabitants in 1980, in 1993 they became 84, and in 1996 the number reached 119.7. According to the “Automotive Industry 2001 and beyond” report, 190 cars per 1,000 people run on Brazilian roads in 2001;
- Puerto Rico is the country with the most cars per square mile in the world: 146 vehicles per street mile and 4,300 vehicles per square mile. Puerto Rico has nearly 4 million habitants. The car population is 3.6 million, 2.5 million registered. Approximately 193,129 new automobiles join the car population every year. A household has from 1 to 3 cars. There are 617 automobiles for every 1,000 people; (1)
- in Argentina, the economy entered a protracted recession in 1999, culminating in a sovereign debt default and a maxi-devaluation at the start of 2002. New passenger car registrations collapsed from 322,000 in 1998 to just 59,000 in 2002, but bounced back to an estimated 285,000 in 2004. In 2003 there were 143 passenger cars per 1,000 population, according to the EIU;
- although Venezuela has among the cheapest petrol prices in the world (reflecting long-standing political resistance to raising prices), vehicle penetration is relatively low by regional standards and extremely low by developed-country standards. The average age of the existing vehicle fleet is high. It is estimated that as much as 60% of the existing fleet contravenes international emissions standards (there are no emissions controls in Venezuela). According to The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) , in 2003 there were 75 cars per 1,000 inhabitants.
| country | 1980 | 1996 | 1998 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | source |
| Puerto Rico | -- | 236.9 | -- | -- | -- | 617 | 1, 6 (2003) |
| Netherlands Antilles | -- | -- | -- | 495 | 479 | 399 | 3 |
| Argentina | 105.1* | 135.8 | 140.0 | 146 | 141 | 143 | 1, 2 (03) |
| Suriname | -- | 122.5 | 131.0 | 143 | -- | -- | 1 |
| Brazil | 74.7 | 119.7 | -- | -- | 190 | -- | 1, 5 (02) |
| Mexico | 59.7** | 94.1 | 99.0 | 107.0 | 148 | -- | 1, 7 (02) |
| Chile | 45.3 | 77.8 | 84.0 | 87.0 | -- | 114 | 1, 4 (03) |
| Venezuela | 90.7 | 68.1 | 75 | 76 | 74 | 75 | 1, 4 (98-03) |
| Costa Rica | 20.5** | 79.3 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
| Honduras | -- | 45.0 | 50.0 | 51.0 | -- | -- | 1 |
| Colombia | 11.3 | 41.3 | 44.0 | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
| Ecuador | 28.4** | 39.7 | 41.0 | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
| El Salvador | 15.6** | 29.1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
| Peru | 22.9 | 21.7 | 22.4 | 22.8 | 22.9 | 1, 4 (98-03) | |
| Nicaragua | 8.3** | 15.9 | 11.0 | 12.0 | -- | -- | 1 |
* Data: 1978; ** 1981.
Sources: (1) World Bank, World Development Indicators; (2) eb.eiu.com; (3) Central Bureau of Statistics Netherlands Antilles, 2005; (4) The Economist Intelligence Unit ; (5) Automotive Industry 2001 and beyond, 2001; (6) www.legendsofpr.com/cars.htm; (7) The New York Times, mentioned in: ( www.commondreams.org/views01/0315-02.htm);
(1) Legends of Puerto Rico [ www.legendsofpr.com/cars.htm]