The Argentine Association of Car Sellers (ACARA) has reported that the sale of new cars plummeted 31 percent in September compared to the same period last year, with 58,516 units leaving showrooms.
In the first nine months of 2014 sales tailed off a total of 25 percent, with data suggesting that while automobiles for personal use dropped 27.81 percent and were most affected, vehicles purchased for work purposes also saw falls.
Light commercial vehicle sales fell back 16.06 percent, while heavy units dropped 23.41 percent. The truck sector saw decreases across the market; major sellers such as Mercedes Benz (21.34%), Iveco (27.65%), Ford (2.55%) and Volkswagen (21.72%) all retreated, with Swedish company Scania seeing sales fall by as much as 40.4 percent.
The outlook was a little brighter, however, on a monthly comparison. September’s figures were 0.23 percent up compared to August, where 58,379 vehicles were registered.
ACARA president Abel Bomrad highlighted the government-backed Procreauto credit scheme as a reason why car sales stabilised over the past month.
Bomrad pointed out that «the growing presence of Procreauto has managed to keep activity in the same levels, which is positive because we could finish the year with a total of 650,000 units.»
«Taking into account the events that have occurred in our business, it would be a more than acceptable market,» he signalled.
«We will continue insisting over the importance of guaranteeing demand with an appropriate production, that is the key for the coming months».
Source. Buenos Aires Herald