During May there were 38,440 vehicles in Argentina, 27.9% less than in the same month of the previous yearas reported by the Association of Automotive Manufacturers (ADEFA).
This is a productive drop that was expected within this sector, since throughout last month three of the eight vehicle factories in the country had technical stoppages of several weeksforced by the lack of parts as a result of the floods in southern Brazil.
Throughout practically all of May the factory Fiat of Córdoba completely stopped its production, while those of Peugeot in El Palomar and General Motors in Rosario they were paralyzed for the same reason for almost two weeks.
“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,” said Martín Zuppi, president of ADEFA and also head of the automotive company Stellantis in Argentina, owner of the Fiat and Peugeot factories.
In the accumulated of the first five months of the year, production was 184,707 units, which represented a drop of 23.8% below compared to the 242,255 units it produced in the same period of 2023.
Exports, with 22,974 vehicles shipped abroad in May, also showed a drop, in this case of 24.1% compared to May of last year. In the first five months of the year, 105,955 units were exported, 17.7% below the same period last year.
However, both in exports and in sales from automotive terminals to dealerships (wholesale sales, which are reflected in patents between 30 and 60 days later) a “rebound effect” if the figures for May are compared to those of the previous month.
“For the first time this year, there is 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 facing the presence of a Change of trendafter having found a floor in these variables in the month of April,” said the head of ADEFA, Martín Zuppi.
In fact, while April exports had been 20,611 units, in May they rose to 22,974. And in internal sales to dealerships, the rebound was greater: 27,851 units shipped in May to the dealership network, against 22,450 in April. In any case, in May the year-on-year drop was very significant, 27.9% below the same month of the previous year. So far this year, a total of 129,653 vehicles have been sold to the network, 20.3% below the 162,723 units in the first five months of 2023.
