Upon achieving a quorum, finally in the upper house of the National Congress the Base Law, which, despite having been considerably reduced compared to the original, generates important expectations among the different Argentine industrial sectors. This has been particularly enhanced in recent days, after it became known that the Government’s position is to begin with the tax reduction key like COUNTRY Taxfrom the sanction of that package of laws.
Both the automotive and auto parts industries, have been demanding international competitiveness to be able to sustain their operations in the midst of the shrinking domestic market. And the only way to improve the situation of Argentine products in relation to those from other countries of origin is lowering the tax burden current, by which a vehicle manufactured in an Argentine plant leaves the production line with 25% taxes.
“We do not want to export taxes, we want to export products that can be attractive to international markets because they have the right quality and price. And that doesn’t happen because We compete with products that have 0% taxes for export, and no one is going to buy us because we are world soccer champions. They are going to buy from the one who has the best price,” they explained from an Argentine automotive terminal.
The largest buyer of our automotive industry is Brazil, although at the same time that country is our main supplier of automobiles and auto parts. “50% of the Ranger that we manufacture in Pacheco go to Brazil,” he said Martin Galdeano, president of Ford South America this Tuesday, during the inauguration of the brand’s new engine plant in the Ford industrial center in Argentina.
The medium pick-up, or one-ton as they are technically called, are this year the main product exported from Argentina to Brazil, trying to penetrate a market that consumes three times as many compact trucks, the half-ton. However, that is a change of scenery because until last year it was the cars produced by Stellantis that added the most “expo”.
The popular Fiat Cronos It was the Argentine car most exported to Brazil in 2023. Throughout the year it had reached 50,755 deliveries to be superior to the Toyota Hilux, but this year began at a slow pace. So far in 2024, 14,363 cars have been delivered, and just as it has dropped from first place in Argentina, this decline can also be seen in the neighboring country, where in the first five months of the year 13,363 cars have been sold, that is a decrease of 6% year-on-year.
The truck Toyota Hilux Last year it was the second most sold national product in Brazil with 46,200 units compared to the 30,694 that were sold in Argentina. But so far this year, counting five months, there have been 18,394 deliveries, which represents a slight growth, 3.3%but it also allows it to rise to first place among “made in Argentina” cars.
The pick-up ford ranger confirms the pick-up trend and is the third most exported vehicle to Brazil when in 2023 it was in fourth place. Although the reference may be somewhat misleading because the new Ranger only began to be sold in July of last year, the cold numbers say that the generation change of the truck manufactured in Pacheco has allowed the model’s figures to increase. Between January and May 2024, 9,741 units have been sold, while in the same period of 2023, there were 6,901, which shows a growth of 41% in one year.
The fourth Argentine model this year has been the successful one Peugeot 208 produced by Stellantis. In 2023 it sold more units than the Ford Ranger with 28,629 versus 20,353, but so far this year, the growth of the pick-up on the one hand, a decrease in sales of the hatchback manufactured in Palomar, have changed the equation. The Peugeot 208 has delivered 7,505 units, which are 14% less than the 8,828 cars in the first five months of 2023.
The fifth most sold vehicle in Brazil of national origin is the Toyota SW4. Although it is true that it is classified as a body-packed pick-up, in Argentina it pays internal taxes that utility vehicles do not, and in Brazil it is included in the statistics of cars and SUVs despite its mechanics and having a chassis like a truck. The case is curious because of that specification, but the sales numbers place it in the Top 5 in the neighboring country. In 2023 they sold 16,006 units of this model, and so far this year they have sold 6,177, which represents a 10% growth compared to 5,613 in the first five months of 2023.
