Luis Ceriotto
08/05/2021 6:00 AM
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 08/05/2021 7:14 AM
Eximar
, owner in the country since 2019 of the representation of the
Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover and Geely
brands
, announced an investment of
100 million pesos
in the renovation of its
Ditecar
dealerships
, as well as in the installation of
50 chargers for electric cars
, in 25 points of the City and the North of the suburbs, to prepare the arrival of the Volvo brand models with alternative engines.
Although today 100 million pesos represent today a much more impressive figure than its equivalent in dollars (less than
US $ 600,000
, at the informal exchange rate), it is still a
significant
investment
by a company that
does not have an automotive factory in the country
. So they have to negotiate with the Ministry of Industry the coveted import permits through
the Integrated Import Monitoring System
(SIMI), without being able to offer the export of locally manufactured vehicles as a
bargaining chip
.
Even at this apparent disadvantage, the group was confident that
there will be more SIMI's available
. "Today we have a
reasonable
batch of units (to sell)
,"
a group spokesperson
told
Clarín
.
Eximar is a new brand, created to serve this new business: it groups together the representation in the country of the luxury brands Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover that
Ford
managed for many years
and that until 2019 were in the hands of the Chilean company
Ditec
. This representation, as well as the Ditecar dealerships, were acquired almost two years ago by the
Cafo
group
, whose visible face is
Jaime Campo,
and by
Autovisiones
, a concessionaire of the
Audi, Kia and Hyundai
brands
, headed by
Federico Pieruzzini
, now CEO of this new automotive branch.
The investments will be directed, they announced, to the modernization of the Vicente López Volvo dealership, on Avenida del Libertador, as well as the Martínez after-sales workshop. They will also open a Volvo store in Paseo Alcorta shopping mall and plan to install chargers to prepare for the arrival of Volvo's first electric cars. Where? "We are analyzing it, especially with the brand's regional office. In principle, it would be in the
northern
suburbs and could go as far as
Rosario
, although the group also has concessionaires in
Mendoza and Tucumán
," the spokesperson added.
For the moment, Volvo's offer in Argentina will be
hybrid
models
, as Pieruzzini announced in recent months, while for the Land Rover brand they will maintain an offer of
diesel
vehicles
, with wide autonomy for the "off road".
"For the execution of this first phase of the ambitious electrification project that Volvo Argentina has throughout the country, Eximar
will partner with an Argentine SME
to develop the charging infrastructure locally," the company also announced.
For now, the search for that partner remains in the
"tender"
category
, added the spokesperson for the new brand.
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