Luis Ceriotto
09/19/2021 7:37 PM
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 9/19/2021 7:37 PM
A
Mercado Libre
study
showed that in the last three years the demand for SUV-type vehicles, whether they are not or 4x4 traction,
is eating up the market
for conventional cars.
Although the latter continue to represent approximately half of the total vehicle market, SUVs are gaining preference, capturing
15% of total purchase intention,
compared to
11%
three years ago.
The Mercado Libre survey was carried out based on the notices that the portal publishes for the supply of vehicles, both zero kilometer and used, as well as the visits received by each publication and the "purchase intention" of users.
In the ranking of models, the most sought after SUV in Mercado Libre is the
Chevrolet Tracker
, among 0km vehicles, while the
Ford Ecosport
is the one that leads the search ranking among used units.
"Thanks to this report we were able to observe that SUVs are increasingly consolidated as
a very popular alternative
among Argentines," said
Juan Manuel Carretero
, Commercial Manager of Vehicles at Mercado Libre.
The sale of vehicles in the country is highly atomized, with some
400 official dealerships
selling zero kilometer units and
thousands of resellers
of used vehicles, many of which use Mercado Libre to advertise themselves or to establish
market prices
(since the parallel dollar shot up, in May of last year, there is in turn a
"gap"
between list prices and those that buyers are willing to pay not to wait between three and six months).
Mercado Libre
does not operate as a direct seller of vehicles
, but its
publication
tracking
system
allows it to measure not only the supply but also the eventual demand and the "purchase intention" of its visitors.
A comparison between the first quarters from 2018 to this year showed that the demand for SUVs
rose from 11% in 2018 to 15% this year
, to the detriment of the demand for typical midsize cars (sedans), which
captured 29% of demand three years ago, against 23% in the first quarter of 2021
.
On the other hand, the smallest cars (Hatchback, in the ML classification) kept their demand unchanged, with
31% of the market
.
The growing interest in SUVs
continued even during the last year
, despite the fact that the
restrictions
on vehicle imports that the Government has been imposing dried up the supply of this type of units, most of which are brought from abroad.
According to the Mercado Libre report,
the total supply of these vehicles fell 24%
in the last twelve months.
The official policy even sticks to the supply of locally manufactured SUVs, which today are only two models and
are subject to internal taxes
that increase their price or directly "take" them out of the local market:
Toyota SW4
and
Volkswagen Taos
.
This last model, with a list price of between 4.4 and 5.3 million pesos, pays a surcharge in the domestic market that is
equivalent to 22% of its list price
. On the other hand, SW4, with a list price that
starts at $ 6.6 million
, pays a
nominal 35%
surcharge
which, once other indirect taxes are charged, ends up representing a
50% surcharge
on the list price. .
On the other hand, other products that leave the same factories, the Hilux and Amarok pick-ups,
are exempt from paying internal taxes
, since both pick-ups and utility vehicles do not pay these taxes. For this reason, precisely, the pick-ups were again among the best-selling vehicles as of last year, as had happened between 2014 and 2015: both the Hilux and the Amarok, as well as the Ford Ranger pick-up are among the
six best-selling vehicles in the country
so far in 2021.
