In the early 1990s, the three main vehicle manufacturers in Colombia—Colmotores, Compania Colombiana Automotriz (CCA) and Sofasa—have seen their share of total domestic sales eroded in the face of increasing imports. Heavy competition made the local manufacturers produce lower-end vehicles locally at competitive prices.

Colmotores

The “Fábrica Colombiana de Automotores S.A.” was established, in July 1956, to import and sell automobiles throughout the country. Five years later, in 1961, the automotive company entered into an agreement with B.M.I. (British Motor Corporation) to assemble the Austin in Colombia. In February 1962, less then one year following the signing agreement, Colmotores was inaugurated.
Independent shareholders agreed to sell 60% of the company to Chrysler in 1965. The oil crisis occurred in 1972, and seven years later, Chrysler sold their share of Colmotores to GM. GM now owns 94.3% of Colmotores and assembles a full product line of vehicles today.
GM Colmotores sells products under the Chevrolet brand where there are 35 dealers and 60 points of sales throughout the country.
The company assembled almost 30,000 vehicles in 2006.

Sofasa

Intro: SOFASA, established on July 2, 1969 with Renault and IFI as principal shareholders (49% each), opened an assembly plant for Renault vehicles in Medellin in 1970. In 1990, Toyota and Mitsui, a Japanese general trading company, acquired a stake in SOFASA, which then became SOFASA S.A. in 1994.
SOFASA S.A. covers both industrial and commercial operations thanks to its plant in Medellin – with a production capacity of 44,000 vehicles per year and a workforce of 850 employees – and a solid network of 31 dealerships.
In December, 2002 Valores Bavaria, which holds a 51.3% stake in SOFASA S.A. alongside Renault (23.7%), Toyota (17.5%) and Mitsui (7.5%), has indicated its intention to pull out of the car industry to refocus on its core-business activities. Renault, Toyota and Mitsui have agreed to negotiate the final terms of the purchase of the equity held by Valores Bavaria in SOFASA S.A. to become the sole shareholders of SOFASA S.A., with equity stakes of 60%, 28% and 12%, respectively.
SOFASA S.A. has produced almost 500,000 Renault and Toyota vehicles in Colombia since it was founded.
In 2006 34,788 cars were assembled at the plant, but this number will grow as production of the Logan is being ramped up.

Compania Colombiana Automotriz (CCA)

Intro: The history of Mazda in Colombia goes back to the 1980s when the first dealership was set up. Later, in 1983 it was decided that an assembly plant should be established and it was realized with assistance from both Mazda Motor Corp. and Sumitomo Corp. In October, 1983 the first Mazda B-1600 rolled off the line in Bogota. Various other models, such as the 323, 626 were added to the portfolio and in 1992 export commenced to Venezuela and Ecuador.
But hard times fell upon the company two years later, when the devaluation of yen hit Mazda in Japan.
Between 1999-2000 the new 626 and the Allegro were introduced to the local market.
In May, 2002 Mazda Motor Corp. took over the shares of Sumitomo Corp. and became the sole owner of the company.
In 2003 1940 Mazda models were built, while three years later the plant churned out 14,555 vehicles, including Mazda, Mitsubishi and Ford products.

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