An incomplete list of farm-to-table models that were more or less available until last year and no longer exist as of 2023, includes brands such as Jeep brawler and gladiatorthe Toyotas Rav4, Land Cruiser and Camry and the full range of Hyundai.
Those models which, it should be noted, they are not the only ones who have stopped entering the country so far this year, have in common that they are imported outside the Mercosur countries. they quote in dollarsbut those price lists now became a reference only for establishing the price of those same units, Used.
Another fact, which is being confirmed among dealership owners, is that the lack of models imported from “outside the area” does not mean that there are fewer vehicles available. Conversely, there is some consensus among sellers on a elderly number of units (adapting Henry Ford’s famous phrase), as long as they are locally produced.
“Beware that zero kilometers are appearing. The surcharge is over because people don’t pay it, now they prefer to wait. It’s no longer six months like before,” he said Ricardo Mastrangelo, high-end used dealer. “There are many people who don’t know that there are machines now. They are with the mentality that there are excessive prices, that there are no machines and that’s not the case”.
For more than two years, the offer in dealerships has been digitized not by buyer demand, but by import permits granted by the government. Nearly 55% of total registrations last year (212,000 units) were for local vehicles. A fact that can be explained only partially by the buyer’s preference. The lack of imported supply did the rest.
In this way, during 2022 and also the previous year, between six and seven of the ten best-selling models They were gathered in the countryside. The Fiat Cronos, Peugeot 208, Toyota Hilux and Volkswagen Amarok top the list in 2022, with very little imported competition within their segments.
But the shortage of dollars is now generating an impressive spillover effect even among brands that have the trade balance in their favor, such as Toyota. The Japanese brand had in 2022 the 25% of all patents which were made in the country, both for its local Hilux and SW4 models as well as the Brazilian models Yaris, Etios, Corolla and Corolla Cross. Over 30% of vehicle imports in 2022 They were from Toyota.
Nonetheless, dealers have been notified that the suspended without date the importation of models made outside Mercosur, such as the Camry, Land Cruiser and the highly sought after Rav4. Again, the reason was the exchange restriction.
“Toyota is suspending the importation of vehicles from outside the zone due to the discrepancy this brings having to sell them in pesos and take on a one-year foreign debt in dollars“, one of the brand’s main retailers told Clarin.
The Korean brand Hyundai does not have a plant in Argentina, it is part of the list of importers that make up the CIDOA chamber, which in 2022 grabbed a share of 5% units among the patents of 0km. In Hyundai’s case, its imports were so scarce that local representative brands reduced list prices which he posted on the internet, to avoid headaches with his clients.
“What the brand has decided is to eliminate the price list, because with so little offer no one would respect hersaid a Hyundai dealer. ‘So now the customer brings their used car to the dealership, plus some cash which is usually dollars, and see if the activity suits you or not“.
In Fiat dealerships, where the Jeep brand is also offered, zero kilometer models imported from outside the area such as the Gladiator and Wrangler are also off sale. On the other hand, for locally produced models, there is an offer available, according to a Capital dealer. Sure: now, to the international logistical problems that persist after the pandemic, a new discomfort has been added, purely local.
“In national models, generally, there is only a delay in registration where it is patented. If the car being sold is already in the dealership, the delay is a few working days, no more than 4 or 5“said the manager of a dealership that sells the Fiat, Jeep and Citroen brands. “But now there is one more problem, which is the lack of means of transport. All the mosquito trucks are late.”
So there are no surcharges? Second Albert Prince, head of the Automotive Chamber of Commerce (CCA), today there is already more supply than demand.
The sale of used cars decreased sharply throughout 2022, and especially in the last months of the year. “1.57 million units were sold, a 7% decrease from the previous year,” Príncipe said. “Sale used in December they were the lowest since 2008. It is because cars are very far from people’s possibilities and access to credit never up to it what the sector needs”.
Source: Clarin
