Although the situation has progressively improved, the scenario of zero kilometer car sales in the Argentine market is not reaching the projections that were expected for this date, when it is about to start the second semester that the automotive industry expected as the one that would save the year from a start with declines in all sales and therefore production indices.
Behind the devaluation and the increase in prices due to the increase in COUNTRY tax In December, after the first two months of this year, an annual drop in sales of more than 30% was projected. In 2023, 450,000 cars were sold and in those first days of the year the outlook was to end 2024 with 320,000, although betting heavily on a recovery starting in July that perhaps would allow reach 350,000 units.
With five months computed, 2024 started with -33% in January, improved to -27% in February, fell again to -30% in March, and rose again to reach -24% in April and end with -22% after May. But rise does not mean positive numbers. The fall is real, and the concern of the brands is that the tax conditions that determine the costs of production and marketing of cars, about which they have been complaining to the government since he took office. Javier Mileicontinue to be delayed.
The effort to maintain Prices with almost no increases cannot be “held” much longer. Those who sustain it in the best way are those who have more than 70% of its production destined for exports, but it is very difficult for those who live mainly from the domestic market. That is why automotive executives insist on every opportunity they can make it public.
“The change will come when we manage to lower the taxes that impact so strongly on the price of the cars. Cars are very expensive, which is why we always talk about the amount of taxes involved in producing or importing them. And while it is true that there is a drop because purchasing power lost capacity this year, there are also a number of customers who are waiting for cars to drop in price if some of the government’s economic goals are met, for example reducing the PAIS tax at 7.5 points last year (today it is 17.5%) or the stocks are eliminated,” they confessed to Infobae from one of the main automotive terminals.
At the car dealership counters, this situation is clearly felt.
“Sales improved a little but not as much as we expected. The market is moving almost exclusively due to the gap between the official dollar and the parallel dollar. That is what this month has generated moments of greater operations. 0% rate credits help a little, but it is not what moves the market,” commented the sales manager of a chain of official dealerships in CABA.
The numbers confirm it. Despite a large financed purchase offer, so far this year there has been a increase in operations with credits of only 5.3% compared to 2023. According to the Online Information System of the Automotive Market of Argentina (SIOMAA)this year 13,908 cars have been sold under this condition while last year there were 13,208 vehicles.
Different realities are lived inside. The expected improvement in sales when the field will begin to liquidate the harvest It still does not appear to be impacting zero kilometer car operations.
“The buyer of the field still has not appeared by the dealerships as used to happen. There is a rebound but for other reasons. Less than 50% is for the harvest because the farm client is waiting to settle or is settling to pay debts. All They expect higher soybeans, or the exit of the stocks or a devaluation that gives them better conditions,” a businessman with multi-brand dealerships in the agricultural productive area of Santa Fe and Córdoba told Infobae.
“Sales improved greatly due to the reappearance of very attractive lines of credit for productionspecifically in what is a national pick-up that reached a minimum of 24% interest, and by the gap between the official dollar and the parallel. That the dollar touched $1,300 was very dynamic because it encouraged many customers to change and buy vehicles,” he concluded.
Other regions, where it is not the countryside but the mining, oil exploitation or other type of different crops To those of the Pampa Húmeda the activities that drive the economy, the scenario is different. In Mendoza, Neuquén, Río Negro, San Juan and Jujuyis where sales fell the least in relation to 2023, with provinces where patents in five months are barely a 5.8% less in Neuquén, or up to 16.1% in Río Negro. In the rest of the country, the drop is greater than or equal to 20%. What happens is that with low volumes in the accumulated volumes of all those provinces, the number does not influence the total figures of the country as much.
In it Buenos Aires metropolitan area, where the market is not driven so much by seasonal conditions such as the harvest or activities such as those mentioned in Cuyo, NOA and Patagonia, sales are more anchored to consumption itself and the purchasing power of users. Between January and May, in CABA the drop in sales of new cars reached 23.9% and in the province of Buenos Aires the decrease is 20.7%.
For that reason it is that For factories, export is essential, since this variable is what compensates for a fall in the domestic market. The figures for the first five months show that in January 67.5% of the cars manufactured in Argentine plants were exported. In February they were 62.9%, in March they dropped to 54.4% and in April even more so, to 47.9%. The good news from May was that the volume of cars sold abroad grew again to 59.7%, which allows us to have a average of 58.5% so far this year.
In the year-on-year comparison it is a 22% less compared to 2023and that is the concern of the sector, because it is exports that should allow the accounts to be balanced with respect to the internal market, which seems to inevitably go to a negative number between 15 and 20% lower than the previous year.
