Despite having four fewer working days than in May of last year, and despite the production stoppages that some terminals suffered and still suffer as a result of the lack of supplies from Brazil due to the floods in the southern states, May automotive production figures gave encouraging numbers for the macro situation of the Argentine automotive industry.
The monthly report of the Association of Automotive Factories (ADEFA)confirms that thanks to exports, the sector had a better month than expected, although the general numbers for the year remain negative, both in relation to the previous month and in the accumulated five months compared to the same period in 2023.
In May, automotive terminals produced 38,440 units, which represents 10.6% below of the April volume and a decrease of 27.9% when compared to the 53,282 units that were produced in May of last year.
In the accumulated of the first five months of 2024, the terminals manufactured a total of 184,707 passenger and utility vehicles, 23.8% below the 242,255 units produced in the same period of 2023.
The April reference was that compared to the previous year, production had fallen by 22.6% in four months. Taking into account the variables of this fifth month of the year, the drop is minimal, just 1.2%, which reflects a theoretical rebound that should be confirmed in June.
The variable that encourages this projection is that after a drop of 12.2% in the last monthly measurement, Exports rose 11.5% in May in 30 days with 22,974 units.
Overcoming the complicated start of the year is not an easy task, but after being 32.9% below 2023 in the first four months of this year, foreign trade has recovered almost 9 percentage points to remain at 24.1% in May, which allows us to reach the beginning of the expected second semester with relative optimism.
From January to May, the terminals sold 105,955 units abroad, that is, 17.7% less than the shipments registered in the same period last year.
“Over the last few weeks, we have experienced a series of sporadic shutdowns at several production plants, due to flooding in southern Brazil. The lack of supply of parts is reflected in the production volumes of the period and its comparison with the previous month,” he explained. Martin Zuppipresident of ADEFA in his analysis of the production figures of the 13 factories that the Argentine automotive industry has.
In addition, the entity’s top manager highlighted that “for the first time this year, an increase in export volumes and wholesale sales compared to the previous month. In this sense, and although it will require monitoring in the coming months, we observe that we could be in the presence of a change in trend, after having found a floor in these variables in the month of April. This change in trend during the month is encouraging and reinforces our commitment to continue working together with the Value Chain and the Government on the sector’s agenda.”
Regarding wholesale sales to dealer networks, May figures indicate that 27,851 units were sold, which marks a growth of 24.1% compared to April deliveries, although they still remain negative in the year-on-year comparison with a 27.9% less than May 2023 volume.
In the first five months of the year, a total of 129,653 vehicles were sold to the network, 20.3% below the 162,723 reference units of the previous year.
