Argentina's Mileise: Auto industry collapses as sales register their worst June in 20 years

The Association of Argentine Automobile Dealers (ACARA) reported that last month, 29,878 new motor vehicles were registered in the country.

This figure was 14.1% less than in May and 25.5% less than in June 2023. It was also the weakest June for new car registrations since 2004 - when the country was still recovering from its well-publicized 2001 foreign debt/convertibility crisis.

The Association of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (ADEFA), in turn, reported a 40.2% interannual collapse in car and light truck output, to 32,029.

An ACARA press release blamed everything from the "Registration Worker's Day" (June 27th) to flooding in southern Brazil, problems with the supply of license plates, and several days of inactivity in the automobile registries due to strikes called by public employees' unions.

The latter two causes were however triggered by deep budget cuts by the far-right Javier Milei administration - which in May ordered 40% of federal vehicle registration offices closed.

Auto sales in Argentina - and the economy more broadly - have also suffered from Milei's restrictive, pro-cyclical monetary policy, which resulted in an 18% decline in real credit outstanding to the private sector in just six months in office - steeper even than the 12% fall in the real monetary base.

Registrations for the first half of this year totaled 182,399 - 22.6% less than in the same period in 2023. And output fell even further: down 26.7%, to 216,736 (excluding freight trucks and buses).

At: https://www-todoriesgo-com-ar.translate.goog/acara-patentamiento-autos-motos-primer-semestre-2024/?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp#

A newly-arrived 2024 Toyota Hilux truck - currently the country's top-selling vehicle - is unveiled in Paraná, Argentina, last November.

Following the election that month of far-fright President Javier Milei, however, auto sales - and the economy more broadly - have fallen into a deep recession.

Auto sales for the first half of 2024 appear to confirm early projections from the ACARA dealership federation of 340,000 new units - some 25% below last year's levels, 57% below the 2010-18 average, and the lowest since 2004.