Cars: with 31,167 patents in August, dealers ask to 'release' imports

09/01/2021 6:00 AM

• Clarín.com

• Economy

Updated 09/01/2021 6:00 AM

Vehicle patenting in August totaled

31,167 units

, according to the

Automotive Dealers Association

(ACARA), a figure practically identical to that of a year ago (the year-on-year increase was 1.8%) and with the owners of the dealerships juggling to hide their

moodiness

for what they understand is a

missed

opportunity

.

"August continued with this trend of

high demand that has not been satisfied because the supply is restricted by the shortage of vehicles,

" said the head of ACARA,

Rubén Beato

, in the statement of the entity that accompanied the statistics. "The second In the middle of the year it will continue with a scarce supply, which is why we request that,

while addressing the macroeconomic issues that should prevail

, that

a greater release of imports

be contemplated

,

"claimed the businessman.

At the beginning of the year, both the automotive terminals and their dealer network had forecast sales of some

420,000 to 440,000 units

, based on a month-to-month demand approaching 40,000 units. Since May of last year,

the exchange gap and the blue dollar

functioned as an

extra stimulus

to attract the public to the concessionaires.

However, government restrictions on vehicle imports created a

limited

market

, with price premiums of up to 50% above the factory list price and six-month delays in the most popular models, such as the

Toyota Hilux

(second in the list). this year's ranking), which are also similar between its national competitors

Ford Ranger

(4th in the ranking) and

Volkswagen Amarok

(6th).

The results of the import restriction policy are reflected in the ranking of the best-selling models, led by two local vehicles,

Fiat Cronos

and Toyota Hilux. Of the twelve best-selling models so far this year, seven are locally manufactured: in addition to the Cronos, Hilux, Ranger and Amarok, there is the

Peugeot 208

(7th), the

Chevrolet Cruze

(11th) and the

Renault Kangoo

(12th). .

But the relative improvement of local production in the sales ranking is explained more by the

shortage of supply

, according to the dealers themselves. Salomé warned that they will end up selling far fewer vehicles than the market is asking for. "If this situation continues,

today we see a market close to 385,000 cars, 40,000 units below what we thought,

" he said.

After demanding "a greater release" of imports, the businessman argued that the claim of his sector will not affect public accounts.

"It is a number of dollars that

are not significant

, which would make a sector that is a great provider of employment grow very noticeably,

180,000 direct jobs

and 530,000 direct and indirect jobs."

So far this year, according to ACARA, this is the ranking of the best-selling models: Fiat Cronos (27,419), Toyota Hilux (18,362), Volkswagen Amarok (13,551), Volkswagen Gol Trend (12,966), Toyota Etios (11,186) , Peugeot 208 (10,904), Ford Ranger (10,120), Toyota Yaris (8,533), Chevrolet Onix (7,167), Toyota Corolla (6,109), Chevrolet Cruze (6,062) and Renault Kangoo II (5,924).