Despite sales tax cut, Argentine auto sales fall 15% in January from same month last year.
Registrations of new cars and trucks in Argentina reached 56,511 units in January 2016, representing a decline of 15% from the 66,489 vehicles registered in the same month of 2015, according to the latest monthly report by the Association of Argentine Automobile Dealers (ACARA).
The number of vehicles registered in January were 79% higher than in December (31,577 units); but December is a consistently slow month for registrations, as new car buyers typically postpone purchases until the next calendar year. December's sales had been up by 3.1% from a year earlier.
The report noted that despite the reduction in vehicle sales taxes enacted by President Mauricio Macri, new cars were substantially more expensive in January. ACARA President Abel Bomrad noted that "the difficulties of establishing reference prices in the first half of the month contributed to the slowest January in recent years." Given the uncertainty in the market since the 40% devaluation enacted by Macri on December 17, Bomrad considered it necessary to "see how the market evolves before remaining hopeful that this year's sales figures will be similar to 2015."
New auto sales declined 6.3% to 643,672 in 2015, a year marked by import supply bottlenecks. While this was the worst showing since 2009, it was nevertheless the 6th best sales year on record for Argentina.
General Motors was the best-selling automaker in January with 8,489 units, followed by Volkswagen with 8,385 and Ford with 8,177 vehicles. As for models, the best selling vehicle in the first month of the year was the Fiat Palio with 3,281 units, followed by Chevrolet Classic (2,934), the Toyota Hilux pickup (2,485), and Toyota Etios with 2,260.
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