Luis Ceriotto
03/01/2021 6:01 AM
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 03/01/2021 6:01 AM
A change in the scale of internal taxes that the AFIP charges vehicles governs from today and penalizes with a
20%
aliquot
to units with a wholesale price of more than
1.8 million pesos
.
In fact, all vehicles with public prices below 2.6 million pesos will not be affected by this surcharge charged by the Government to vehicles that are supposedly "luxury".
Neither will it apply to the increasingly popular pick-ups, which, because they were exempt from this tax, were once again among the best-sellers, as was the case between 2013 and 2015. But Toyota Hilux SW4, the most expensive version, is being affected by taxes. and bodied as a family vehicle of the entire range that Toyota manufactures in Zárate.
Now it is likely that its list price will rise even more, which at the beginning of February was 5.2 million pesos.
Will demand drop?
Everything indicates that buyers will care very little.
The SW4 is practically not available in dealerships, unless the buyer has the patience to wait between six and ten months for its delivery, at the price at which it is quoted at that time.
But there is also no "fast track" for a SW4 zero kilometer in Mercado Libre.
The options within this sales portal, last week, were for versions of the years 2018, 2017 or 2016. Cheaper?
The other way around: its price starts at the same values as a zero kilometer and there are sellers who ask for 6,959,000 million pesos for a 2017 version, with 73,000 kilometers.
In theory, that seller is asking for a surcharge of more than three million pesos, if compared to the values published by the Association of Automotive Dealers (ACARA) or the Automotive Chamber of Commerce (CCA).
One of the few models that today are delivered with relative little delay is the Fiat Cronos, manufactured in Córdoba at a pace that closely follows the demand: in the first two months, more than 8,000 units were patented, far from the second best-selling vehicle , the Toyota Hilux.
"For the Cronos we have stock and, most importantly, we have replacement of units," said a Capital brand dealer.
On the Mercado Libre page, Fiat Cronos ads are offered at list price.
But this is an exception to the rule.
A score through the popular website between the most sold models of 2020 and the first two months of this year shows important differences between what they supposedly cost and what sellers are asking for.
Some examples:
Peugeot 208 1,6 Feline Triptronic.
Peugeot 208, produced in El Palomar.
The list price at the beginning of February was $ 2,173.00.
In Mercado Libre, the offers ranged from $ 2,790,000 for a 2021 model to $ 2,050,000 for a 2020 version (its list price, in theory, is $ 1,795,000, according to ACARA).
Volkswagen T-Cross 1,6 MSI Comfortline, Triptronic.
Volkswagen T-Cross, version 2020.
The list price was $ 2,297,900 at the beginning of last month.
And the offers in Mercado Libre ranged from $ 2,250,000 for a 2021 version (almost an offer), up to $ 3.4 million.
Toyota Etios 1,5 XLS AT 4 doors.
A 2018 version of the 4-door Toyota Etios.
List price from a month ago, $ 1,510,000.
Prices in the Free Market: $ 1,510,000, traced from the list price.
Only it was for three units, two from 2020 and one from 2018.
Chevrolet Onix 1.2 LT MT, 5 doors.
Chevrolet Onix, 2020 version.
List price, $ 1,499,900 in February.
In Mercado Libre, a single unit was offered, at $ 1,637,000.
The rest, between $ 1.4 and 1.62 million, were five 2020 model units.
Ford Ranger 2.2 TDci 6MT, double cab.
Production of the Ranger at the General Pacheco factory in May of last year.
Photo: Rafael Mario Quinteros
The list price of $ 3.044 million for the 2021 version was repeated three times in Mercado Libre.
There were no overpricing notices, but there were 2020 units offered at 2021 version prices.
Volkswagen Amarok 2.0 TDI Trendine.
Next to Ford, Volkswagen makes the Amarok, The photo is from September.
February list price, $ 3.062 million.
For this model it was possible to find offers slightly below the list price ($ 2.9 million) in one case, but the 2020 model offers come to equal the price of the Okm.
Toyota Hilux 2.4 TDI.
Toyota Hilux 2021.
Like the SW4, the Hilux reflects over-demand in classified ad prices.
It had a list price of $ 3,072,600 at the beginning of February, and in Mercado Libre it was offered at that price for a 2020 model and even a 2019 model, until reaching $ 3,670,000 for a 2020 model in Santa Fe and $ 3.6 for another. unit 2020, in Mendoza.
Are all units sold at a premium?
No. Almost 40% of sales today are channeled through prior savings plans, which is the way that buyers, and especially dealers, can ensure the delivery of a unit: by law, no automaker can authorize the creation of a prior savings system without guaranteeing the delivery of the units that are raffled and tendered within each group, usually 84 units.
"The mechanism consists of bidding the list price, which guarantees the highest offer within the group. In this way, it is purchased without a surcharge and the automaker is obliged to deliver the unit within a reasonable period of time," explained an executive from one of the most selling terminals on the market.
The rest of the market is governed by an offer that is more regular in locally manufactured vehicles and is erratic, in the eyes of the buyer, for imported units.
But the statistics are concrete: in the first two months, the first four best-selling vehicles in the ranking were locally manufactured.
: Fiat Cronos, Toyota Hilux, Peugeot 208 and Volkswagen Amarok.
"There is an ideological conception of what is good and what is bad. It is not new, we already lived it in the time of (Guillermo) Moreno, but it generates distortions," reasoned an importer, who admitted that with the scarce quota that today he gets them to grant him in the Ministry of Industry "I am covering the costs, but at least I am not losing money as happened to me with the devaluations of Macri."
In a Toyota dealership, supposedly one of the winning brands, on the other hand there were plenty of complaints, direct from its owner: "I spent years trying to get certain types of customers. And now they come to ask me for a SW4, and I have to tell them they have to sit and wait ten months. "
