Will smaller Chile sell more new cars than Argentina this year? It might just happen as sales boom

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – New car sales in Chile continue to surprise. Despite the lack of stock, a historical record was achieved in September, when 42,627 new vehicles were registered, the best month ever recorded according to the figures of the National Automotive Association of Chile, ratifying in passing the latest estimate of registrations for the current season.

The significant increase, which reached a cumulative 80% when compared to the first nine months of 2020, left Chile in an unprecedented regional position, since, considering sales between January and September, it was 10,000 units behind Argentina (45 million people), a historically much larger market, with more than twice its population, and which in recent years almost tripled local sales.

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As can be seen in this year’s figures, the numbers in Argentina have suffered severe consequences due to the pandemic, which led to the temporary closure of factories. In addition, they have the disadvantage of having almost no imported units, which has been reflected in lower sales.

For the same reason, the Argentine Dealers Association (Acara), Ricardo Bartolomé, asked the government to free car imports.

“September’s numbers give us an annual accumulated total that continues to be positive, they are almost epic numbers if we bear in mind that today we have dealerships practically empty due to the lack of units to offer. It is a global phenomenon that is also happening in Brazil, the United States, and Japan due to the crisis of the lack of microchips that impacts several industries, but to this global supply is added the little local release of imported cars. This severe combination affects the dealership sector.”

We understand that dollars are a priority for the macroeconomy. Still, being fair, it is essential to say that in our activity, the trade balance of finished cars with Brazil is optimistic this year. We will export 230,000 vehicles to Brazil, with an average value of US$25,000, and 180,000 will be imported, with an average value of US$15,000; that is why we ask for an extra effort towards our sector,” said the executive.