The closure of the week before Easter was black for the automotive sector: in just two days Three automotive terminals have announced staff layoffs, voluntary retirements or temporary business closures.
The corollary occurred Wednesday evening, when the Automotive Dealers Association (ACARA) reported that sales of zero-mile vehicles they collapsed in March, with just over 25,000 patents and a drop of 36.6% compared to the same month last year and 30.2% this year.
The three terminals that tighten the belt are Renault, General Motors and Toyota, which appealed to several measures to compensate for the decline in vehicle sales in the domestic market (Renault), the lack of dollars to pay for components to external suppliers (General Motors) and also the decline in exports (Toyota).
Renault announced it internally will not renew the contracts of 270 of its workerswhich in turn represent 15% of the total of the Santa Isabel factory in Córdoba, where just under 1,900 people worked until this month.
Company sources confirmed the information and indicated that the decline in sales in the local dealer network affects them almost completely, since 90% of vehicles assembled in Santa Isabel are intended for the domestic market.
“We export only 10% of production, hence the decline in domestic sales it hits us directly“, said a company executive. The models are produced in Santa Isabel. Kangoo (the only one that is exported), Sandero, Stepway and the Alaskan pickup. The latter shares a production line with the Nissan Frontier pickup.
Furthermore, Renault is one of the few local terminals that has it an investment to launch a new model, which would represent a small increase in exports. The manager himself assured that this investment project is not at risk. “The investment continues and we are looking for the moment make the formal announcement”She said.
In the case of General Motors, this Wednesday once again paralyzed the activity of its Rosario factory until April 15, as it had done in the months of January and February.
According to General Motors sources, once again the slowdown in activity is due to the exchange rate, which in the last two years has influenced the activity of all car manufacturers, with numerous plant shutdowns. In the case of General Motors, the company said in a statement that this was due to “issues with the supply of components from suppliers affected by overseas payments.”
In this way, when the new suspension date is respected, the plant where the Chevrolet Tracker model is assembled today You will have worked four weeks in just under four months (previously they had been on holiday from December 29th to January 31st and then suspended activity in February).
In the case of Toyota, the country’s main automobile factory has been inaugurated a voluntary retirement program for 400 of its 8,500 workers (4% of the total) to compensate for the drop in activity generated by the lower export of Hilux pick-ups and SW4 off-road vehicles to Colombia, Chile and Peru.
The news was released internally, as the company did not comment. But a month ago the head of Toyota, Gustavo Salinas, had forecast that in 2024 they would reduce production by 10% (from 182,000 to a maximum of 165,000 units) due to declines in three of their export markets. “It is not because of the decline in the domestic market, we estimate domestic sales and production similar to last year,” managers told traders this week.
Sales of zero kilometer vehicles at dealerships in March amounted to total 25,294 units, as reported by ACARA, representing a 36.6% year-over-year decline. In the accumulated three months, 84,261 units were patented, 30.2% less than in the same period of 2023.
“We clearly have a new market, on salein which dealers must go looking for customers who have had a deterioration in their purchasing power”, stated the head of ACARA, Sebastiano Beato.
Source: Clarin
