One of the most resonant phrases that the IDEA colloquium It was given by the Minister of Deregulation, Federico Sturzenegger: “Don’t ask us to lower taxes, but rather lower spending,” he told the businessmen who participated in the meeting. However, from the automotive sector they demand tax reductions to be more competitive in the world.
“All of us, private businessmen, recognize that the fiscal deficit, that the balance of public accounts comes first, but taxes must be lowered” In conversation with Clarionthis proposition was postulated Martin Galdeanopresident of Ford South America and Argentina, who was one of those who listened to Sturzenegger at the colloquium.
Galdeano participated this year in one of the IDEA groups that precisely addressed Argentine competitiveness in the world and analyzed how to achieve “a strategic position on the global stage.”
“As an entrepreneur I cannot expect to compete against the world with obsolete technology, with obsolete processes. That is what needs to be done first. But there are also taxes, which must be fixed. And then stability, which allows us to look in the long term And the colloquium had a bit of that theme of what each part has to do, because changes are not made alone,” the executive summarized, within the framework of the presentation of the new F-150 pickup.
Regarding Sturzenegger’s phrase, the president of Ford insisted that “taxes must be loweredbecause by lowering expenses and charging the same taxes we do not solve the problem of the private sector. We all recognize that balancing public accounts comes first. But we continue to export a large percentage of taxes.”
More production and a rising market
Regarding the relationship with the parent company, Galdeano commented that “the feedback It’s what always happens: Argentina is an extremely valuable market for our brand. Ford is going to celebrate 111 years in the country. The main plant in South America is here, where you have a very strong relationship with the people. And from the outside you can see the stability in the rules of the game very well.”
-What opportunities are presented to the automotive industry?
-If you look at this year, the industry fell quite a bit in the first quarter, with months of 36% decline. The second was something like 20%. And the third was growth between 8 and 10 percent. I think there is an opportunity in the sectors that are driving the pickup segment this year: the countryside, mining and the oil industry. It is for the rest of the year and we have a positive vision for next year.
-Could you specify a little more?
-We see an industry of approximately 410,000 units by the end of the year. It’s going to be something like a 10% drop. But next year we see an industry more similar to 2023, that is, about a 10 or 15 percent increase. That is why we are analyzing how we increase the speed of the assembly line to manufacture more.
-How much more are they going to manufacture?
-This year we did not stop the factory and we were at a rate of 300 pickups per day, which will give us just over 65,000 units per year. We have the possibility of making 110,000, but for 110,000 you have to put more people and suppliers. We are analyzing it. Many of the scenarios we are working on involve increasing the line speed and that means more people.
-Is the Ranger range going to continue as before?
-We finished the investment cycle and are looking at a lot of options within Ranger. And you are going to mention that the hybrid has just been presented in Europe. Well, we are looking at all the options. That one included. The level of acceptance for a truck that was a very strong commitment to technology is higher than we expected. In the accumulated this year we have around 30% market share. And in Brazil we are at 25%.
-Is the Everest, the SUV version of the Ranger, one of those options?
-We are trying it, but we are not thinking of doing Everest in Pacheco at the moment.
-But bring it imported…
-We always think about options.
-Do you also see new opportunities with the facilities that exist today for importing? For example, bringing more vehicles from China, such as the Territory SUV.
-Territory is the main vehicle imported from China that is sold in Argentina. It is a vehicle that still has a lot of potential in each market where we sell it. In Argentina, we sell between 400 and 700, depending on availability each month, and there is room to grow more then as well. And there’s room to grow with more Territory options.
-The new F-150 debuts the Tremor version in the country. Will it apply to other models of the brand in Argentina?
-The Tremor in the F series is the launch of a brand that we hope to have in many models of our brand. Today we have Raptor several options and our expectation is that Tremor has room to have it in many more options.
