Cars in Latin America: An exploration of the urban landscape and street network correlates of motorization in 300 cities

•Automobile use creates significant externalities for urban residents worldwide.•We examined the association between car rates in 300 Latin American cities with urban landscape and street network metrics.•Car rates in 2015 were consistently associated with urban form complexity and street network circuity, and partially associated with urban fragmentation.•The increase in car rates between 2010 and 2015 showed a negative association with population density.•Regional policies could promote compact development to reduce motorization, while paying special attention to low density urban areas.