In May, for the second consecutive month, the best-selling car of the month It was not the Fiat Cronos but a truck median. That was the news of the Argentine automotive market as the fifth month of the year closed, waking up from a long dream in which the Stellantis manufactured in Córdoba, dominated sales in 37 of the last 48 months.
Who occupied the first place, as almost always happened when the Fiat left it vacant, was the pick-up Toyota Hilux, the best-selling among mid-size trucks practically in the last seven years. Mixed between cars and pick-ups, in sixth place in the sales ranking for the fifth month of the year appears the Corolla Crossthe first SUV, which is also Toyota, although it comes from Brazil, displacing the two best-selling models of 2023 in this segment that were domestically manufactured.
The automotive market is changing in these first five months of the year with a clear tendency to balance the gap that had occurred last yearwhen due to the lack of import authorizations (SIRA) and the reluctance to release dollars to pay for the few imports that the Ministry of Economy authorized, the relationship had become one of 78% of national vehicles versus 22% of imported oneswhatever its origin.
Toyota Hilux It continues to dominate the category in these first months of 2024, although the margin of the first months of last year was significantly reduced with the offensive of two strong competitors such as Volkswagen and Ford. In the case of the Amarok, the final rush of 2023 left them just 2/10th of Hilux’s market share, ending the year with 7.2 and 7% respectively. The other rival appeared in July, starting the second semester and was the new Rangerwhich increased sales of the model to end the year with an interesting 5.7% of the market.
This year, Toyota slightly lowered its position to remain at 6.7% after May, but what changed was the pursuer, which is no longer the product of Volkswagen, whose production is stopped while the plant is being prepared to receive the new version that will be released in the coming weeks. The Ranger continues to “perform” very well this year and is second with 5.9% of total units sold, to leave Amarok third with 4.7 percent.
The Nissan Frontierwhich last month celebrated the production of more than 100,000 trucks at the Santa Isabel plant In only 5 years of production, it continues to be the best of the rest, occupying fourth place in the month and in the accumulated year, with 1.8% of the market, and ahead of its “cousin”, the Renault Alaskanand the only imported one-ton pick-up, the Chevrolet S10which add up to 0.5 and 0.3% of the market.
On half-ton pickups, the Fiat Toro is the leader of a range with very varied offers, with 1.3% of total accumulated sales, prevails over Ram Rampagee (0.8%) and Ford Maverick (0.7%), while among the smaller monocoque pick-ups, the Fiat Strada has 1.2% and clearly beats the Volkswagen Saveiro which also reaches 0.7%.
This is the fastest growing segment of the Argentine automotive market, combining three national products with a wide variety of imported options, many from countries in the region and others from other continents. The versatility of having both a B-SUV as a C-SUVthey also create a competition unlike any other category.
The leader of the month and of the accumulated of the year is the Toyota Corolla Cross, which after having suffered the import limitations of 2023 and closing the year with 2.7%, began the year recovering ground at high speed. In May it placed sixth with an astonishing 5%, which allows it to add an encouraging 3.7% since January, which also leaves it ahead in the partial cumulative score by a few tenths.
Last year’s benchmark, Chevrolet Trackerremains second, concentrating all the production of the General Motors plant in Alvear, Santa Fe, and although in May it fell from 3.9 to 3.5%, its performance is still very good due to the market price, which allows it stay ahead of Volkswagen Taos in the sum of 5 months. The SUV manufactured in Pacheco, which closed last year with 2.7% of the market, has grown at the pace of the SUV segment and closed May with 3.3% so far this year.
He Jeep Renegade It is another product that, because it came from Brazil, was covered last year and is now beginning to increase in sales. It is the fourth in the SUV category with 2.4% of total sales for the year and has displaced the Renault Stepway to fifth place with 1.6%. In this segment we must closely observe the growth of Ford Territorywhich due to very competitive prices, has already reached 1.5% of the market and aims to reach the podium by the end of the year.
Finally, the segment that is not growing as much as in recent years, that of hatchbacks and sedans, has three leading players and some other candidates to fight them if conditions remain similar to those of these first months of the year.
In the accumulated of the year the Fiat Cronos continues to dominate the market, not only for cars but for all vehicles sold in Argentina, it sold 13,816 units that represent a 9.6% market share, although the decline in the last two months is sustained, since it went from 8.8% in March to 6% in May.
His great rival in the sum remains the same as always, the Peugeot 208 manufactured in Palomar, which has also exceeded 10,000 units and has 8.6% of the market. However, while the Fiat fell from 11.2% in 2023 to the current 9.6%, the French product remains at exactly the same values as last year.
The problem that both Stellantis products will have is the Toyota Yaris, which in addition to having Toyota’s “leverage” and its decision to inject as many units as it can to win the segment, does so with the cheapest car. Today, the Yaris is the only model that has a price below 20 million pesos, replicating the bet that the brand made until last year with the noble Etios that is no longer manufactured.
The Yaris was the second best-selling car in May and the third in the segment in the total of the 5 months of 2024 with 5.8% of the market, moving away from the Volkswagen Polo, the fourth in contention by segment and price, which remains at 2.7 percentage points. Between them, another Toyota, the “stainless one” Corollais a sedan from a higher category, segment C, but due to its history and price, it continues to fight against the smaller ones.
