It is no longer an exotic rarity to see new high-end cars on the streets of Buenos Aires. Joining their forebears, fancy but worn-out cars with single-letter license plates, are now the flashy 2023 models of Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMWas well as new units of Volvo, Alfa Romeo, Kia and Hyundai.
In reality, not all of them are 2023 model, as several units had accumulated more than two years stationed at customs in Zárate, unable to enter the country. Authorization came when customers were enabled to pay with one dollar billwithout requesting currency from the Central Bank’s depleted reserves.
This initiative was not born from the Government but from one of the interested parties, the Chamber of Automotive Importers (CIDOA). This chamber brings together automotive importers without a factory in the country, and there converge luxury brands such as BMW and Volvo, Korean brands such as Hyundai and Kia, a team of 13 brands of Chinese origin led by Chery and BAIC.
The chamber, led by the trader and the importer Ugo Belcastro, presented the idea to Sergio Massa when he took office as Minister of Economy and within weeks it was implemented through the Import System (SIRA). Furthermore, the CIDOA initiative was quickly adopted by some companies that make up the Association of Automotive Manufacturers (ADEFA), AS Volkswagen (for your Audi brand) e Mercedesbenz. In CIDOA have estimated that with the mode of cash dollars, imports of about 2,000 units high-end, from November.
«Who got up was Massa. He started with two or three other officials of the Economy to work on the matter and an option came out that has been in force since November: when you make your SIRA request, if you put in “your dollar”, those requests come out. If you ask for MULC, go to the queue“, summed up one of the camera’s importers. The MULC is the Single market and free tradefor which you are asked to buy dollars at the Banco Nación price (230 pesos) from the Central Bank.
An important fact is that many of the units introduced into the country in recent months, with a license plate equivalent to a new model, are 2020 or 2021 models.
“Some cars had 30 months parked in Terminal Zárate, and the port collects the parking fee in dollars, so that the price of each unit increased over time. But since the Argentine market does not yet have a good offer, the dealer You can ask for the price the buyer is willing to pay.“, summed up one of the importers.
Cash dollar payment is not for 100% of the unit, as a substantial portion of the dealer price goes to the state.
“The client deposits approximately half of the final price to the merchant’s or importer’s bank account. What the customer has to pay yes or yes in dollar bills is all that will not be asked of the Central Bank: the FOB price of the vehicle, plus freight plus insurance of the unit until it is deposited in port. That’s what we call the CIF price,” said another importer, also a CIDOA affiliate. “From then on, you pay in pesos in dollars at the Banco Nación quote.”
What part of the price is charged in pesos? Although the negotiation is between the dealership and the customer, there is an important part of the vehicle, which are the rates and the different rates levied by the state, and for which the currency is the pesos and the conversion rate. it is the official dollar.
“The State collects between duty (35% of the unit’s FOB value), Statistics (3%), VAT advance and of Income tax at the time of nationalization of the unit and then at the time of collection Internal taxes, equal to 25% of the price of the first range and 53.8% of the price of the highest range. After that, the VAT and the dealer pays Gross Income at the invoicing stage,” added the importer.
Source: Clarin
