January is historically the best month of the year in terms of patenting 0 km cars in Argentina. But 2024 will be remembered as one of the worst and you have to go back 20 years to find a lower one.
The lack of updated price lists, pending changes in internal taxes, also known as the “luxury tax”, meant that factories did not invoice dealers and they did not have references to sell.
The first result appears with the January patents, which mark a drop of 33% compared to the same month last year, as published by the Association of Automotive Dealers of the Argentine Republic (ACARA).
The 33,727 units registered last month are even a little more than what was expected when January averaged: at one point the drop was 38% and the projection gave 30,000 vehicles.
This meager result is also a product of the doubts generated by the current economic situation in the country, the change of Government and the first measures. “Uncertainty delays car purchases,” he told Clarion Martín Galdeano, president of Ford Argentina.
Historically, January reflects a high number of patents because the change of model year occurs. So many operations closed in December end up being recorded in January.
To find a January lower than 2024 in terms of registrations, you have to go back 20 years, to 2004. At the beginning of the year, 32,406 vehicles were registered. The cover of the ACARA report of that time was titled “The crisis of the automotive market” (sic), in reference to the exit that the sector had been showing after the 2001 crisis.
Chronology of an announced January
10 years after the implementation of the luxury tax, which ruled two scales to apply to passenger vehiclesDecember and January showed a lack of definition that generated more uncertainty within a very complex economic context.
For last December, the minimum taxable amount of the first scale should have been paid by models that had a retail price of more than 14.7 million pesos.
Thus, versions of the popular Fiat Cronos and Peugeot 208 appeared, the two best-selling cars in the country and of national production, which were covered by the internal tax and which brought their list prices to almost 20 million pesos.
But the increases did not fully reflect the December devaluation. Therefore, another increase was expected for January that never came because the luxury tax remained unchanged. If they had been done, all 0 km would be covered by that tax.
The Government of Javier Milei finally announced the tax changes at the end of last week. After rumors of the reduction of these taxes, there was finally an update of the tax minimums.
Now the first stop will be for vehicles that have a retail value of more than 28 million pesos. The rate was not modified, which will continue to be 20% but will have an impact on the final price of 25%.
The second scale, which was for vehicles of more than 32 million pesos, goes to 61 million pesos. The rate was not modified either, which for the second scale will continue to be 35% with a final impact on the retail value of 53%.
The initial result was the increase in prices of all low-end cars and some specific decreases in mid-segment vehicles.
In this way, the worst January of 0 km car sales in the last 20 years in Argentina was built, with some results to analyze.
The best-selling brand last month was Fiat, with 5,199 units, followed by Volkswagen (4,615) and Toyota (4,425), an inverted podium compared to how the 2023 patents ended.
They are followed by Peugeot (3,823), Renault (3,599), Ford (3,187), Chevrolet (2,219) and Jeep (1,329). To highlight the appearance of the 4×4 brand in eighth position, since it is the only one that does not manufacture in the country in the top ten January, which is closed by Citroën (1,301) and Nissan (1,071).
The best-selling models in January 2024 were.
- Fiat Cronos 4,750
- Peugeot 208 3.473
- Volkswagen Amarok 2,179
- Toyota Hilux 2.077
- Ford Ranger 2.032
- Chevrolet Tracker 1.362
- Volkswagen Taos 1,333
- Renault Kangoo II 966
- Toyota Yaris 827
- Jeep Renegade 786