MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine automotive back on track, Adefa report shows

“Difficulties related to covid and technical plant shutdowns have been overcome,· Adefa's Herrero said

The Argentine Association of Automotive Factories (Adefa) Thursday reported that production of motor vehicles had grown more than 19% month on month for an accumulated increase of 517.3% compared to May last year.

National vehicle production reached 34,953 units in May, which meant an increase of 19.2% compared to April and 627.9% over the volume of May 2020, a month that was strongly marked by traffic restrictions due to the pandemic, Adefa said

A report also showed that in the fifth month of the year automakers exported 19,919 vehicles, that is, 25.7% above April's data and 517.3% better than in May of 2020.

Car plants sold 28,025 units in May to local dealers, 6.2% less than in April, but 39.9% more than in May last year.

In a month with only 19 business days, plants put out 34,953 units, 19.2% more than in April and 627.9% more than in May last year, when plants began to resume work after almost 60 days of inactivity due to a strict lockdown.
Between January and May of 2021, a total 153,545 passenger and utility vehicles wwere manufactured; that is 116.9% more than the 70,782 units produced in the same period of 2020.

“Although some inconveniences regarding international logistics have remained, other difficulties related to covid and technical plant shutdowns have been overcome, the sector showed a very positive recovery in production and export compared to the previous month,” said Daniel Herrero, President of Adefa.

He also highlighted the importance ”to continue working together to overcome the difficulties of the situation and consolidate the recovery in 2021, without losing focus on joint work with the Government and the entire value chain in the aspects that make up the vision of the sector for 2030 and the challenges that this implies.”

Regarding foreign trade, Adefa's report indicated that the sector exported 19,919 units in May, which showed an improvement of 25.7% compared to April. If the comparison is against the same month last year in which the sector worked for 8 days, an increase of 517.3 percent was recorded.

In the accumulated of the first five months of the year, the automotive terminals exported 85,140 units, 83.7% more than the 46,347 units that were sent to various markets between January and May of last year.
Between January and May, 144,239 units were sold to dealers, 45.1% above the 99,385 units that were delivered in the same period of the previous year.

Automobiles, the main export segment destined for Brazil, saw its sales cut down by 40% year-on-year in 2020 but is currently recovering at a peedy rate, with a growth of 47% year-on-year to the neighboring country.

The production and export performance is being strengthened by the entry into production of several investment projects of the terminals to add new models or new versions, as well as the increase in the output of units to meet local demand.