Argentina’s motor industry suffered its worst month in 40 years after January production dropped by 65,7 per cent compared with the same period last year.
Argentina’s motor industry suffered its worst month in 40 years after January production dropped by 65,7 per cent compared with the same period last year.
Total output fell to 4 416 vehicles in January, the Association of Automobile Makers (Adefa) said in a statement.
Dealers’ sales fell to 3 646 vehicles, which is a drop of 80,8 per cent from January last year.
“Up until 1998, we would typically see about 40 000 units sold to dealers in January,” Jose Luis Reidy, a spokesman for Adefa, said. “The industry is completely frozen and the outlook is dark.
“These are the worst figures we’ve had in the last 40 years. We’ve never had a January this bad.”
Reidy said plants had suspended production for weeks at a time as the industry was suffering from a nationwide slump suffocating private credit, exports and consumer spending.
According to , the motor industry is carrying the brunt of Argentina’s falling economy. The country has been in deep recession for the last four years, the peso is in tatters and matters were made worse in the last few months by major changes in government. Consumers were also told to limit the amount of money they withdrew from their accounts. This resulted in widespread riots as people realised they could not draw money from their own bank accounts.
Consumers can no longer get loans, forcing plants to decrease production as orders drop. Production is believed to be running at around 20 to 30 per cent of normal levels.