The head of the Automobile Manufacturers Association (ADEFA), Martin Zuppihe stated that his sector is awaiting definitions from the Government onwards “trade debt, internal taxes and export withholdings” in order to have an overview of what vehicle production will be like in the country during 2024.
Automotive terminals ended 2023 with a production of 36,973 vehicless (0.4% less than the same month of the previous year).
Zuppi attributed this slight decline to fewer days worked last month due to factory holidays.
But throughout the year, automakers produced 610,715 vehicles13.7% more than the previous year and the best record in almost a decadefrom 617,000 produced in 2014.
More than half of that production (325,984) was exported, with a slight increase of 1.1% compared to a year ago.
Two-thirds of these exports (202,000 vehicles) They were destined for Brazil. Followed in importance as a destination are Chile (6.8%), Peru (6%), Colombia (5.8%) and all the countries of Central America (10.6%).
Terminals are being cautious when it comes to numbers this year, but Zuppi said he expects 610,000 units in 2023. “to be a floor.”
“Our sector has the capacity to produce 1,300,000 units per year (…). Furthermore, we are the first exporting industrial complex in the country, with more than 9,000 million dollars in exports in the year”Zuppi underlined.
Even so, the executive of the automaker Fiat Chrysler said they will need it at least three months to find out where the sector stands.
“We are waiting for the development of the first quarter to talk about the preliminary projections There are several pending issues on the agenda which are strategic and have a direct impact on the operations and business model of the sector such as trade debt, internal taxes and export withholding taxes,” Zuppi said.
The Ministry of Commerce and AFIP have activated a “Register of commercial debts for imports with foreign suppliers”, whose deadline for registering the debt expires in a few days, from which the Government tries to have a precise map of those who have difficulties with real resources continue to produce due to debts with foreign suppliers.
The trade debt of auto companies, like that of all local companies that have had difficulty accessing Central Bank dollars to pay for imports, accumulated between March 2022 and the end of last year.
An initial estimate carried out by the specialized consultancy firm Abeceb established that only automotive companies accumulate with their parent companies a debt of 6 billion dollars, to which they add another billion dollars of its auto parts suppliers with foreign suppliers.
Internal taxes are a tax charged by AFIP and which in the case of vehicles is applied in two scales. The first provides a rate of 20% which, due to the accumulation of other taxes, ends up affecting the selling price of the vehicles produced by 25%.. Today starts in just under 15 million pesos (retail price) and also affects the more equipped versions of small-displacement domestic vehicles such as the Fiat Crono and Peugeot 208.
In automotive companies, AFIP was expected to update the price range or which would directly cancel the first scale, just as happened during the Macri government. Until now, none of this happened.
As for export withholding taxes, the increase from 5% to 15% is part of the draft Omnibus Law that President Javier Milei sent to Congress. Until its sanction, the car manufacturers Today they pay an average withholding tax of around 2.5%.
Source: Clarin
