GM shares SUV production with Argentina to ease queue in Brazil

To meet domestic demand and exports, thus avoiding delays in deliveries, General Motors started to manufacture the Tracker sports utility vehicle (SUV) also at its factory in Argentina. The reason, according to the company, is to complement the production of the plant in São Caetano do Sul, in the ABC region of São Paulo.

This month, the first units of the Argentine Tracker began to arrive in Brazil, a model that costs from R$ 118,500. GM does not reveal whether there is a queue for the brand’s cars, but confirms that the global supply chain has still shown unpredictability in the supply of components, with occasional impacts on the global automotive industry.

According to GM, “this has caused a temporary shortage of some models or specific configurations on the market”. The company also reports that it is actively working with its suppliers to mitigate potential production stoppages and to seek alternatives in order to optimize the delivery time of products to customers.

According to dealers, Honda, which paralyzed the production line at the Itirapina (SP) plant between the 3rd and 14th of this month, due to a lack of semiconductors, is having difficulties meeting the demand for the new HR-V sports utility vehicle, launched in July. The model, with prices starting at R$ 142,500, has a queue of more than three months.

In September Honda had already interrupted operations in Itirapina for a week.

In the case of Hyundai, there is a wait of two to three months for top-of-the-line models, such as the HB20 Platinum Plus sedan (R$ 125.3 thousand) and the SUV Creta N Line (R$ 159.5 thousand), of lower volume. of production. At Toyota, the longest wait, seven months, is for the SW4 in the Diamond (R$424,300) and GR-S (R$433,600) versions only in pearl white. The Hilux pickup, in the same color, has a two-month waiting period.

Both vehicles are produced in Argentina. For other colors, there is prompt delivery or waiting of just 15 days – the same period valid for the Yaris and Corolla sedans and the Corolla Cross SUV, made in Brazil.

Nissan, Caoa Chery, BMW and Land Rover report that their deliveries are on time or with occasional delays.

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The consultant Cássio Pagliarini, from Bright Consulting, points out that the automotive sector started October with 176,300 vehicles in stock at factories and dealerships, a number he considers sufficient to meet most of the demand.

“Some specific versions may be missing, but I believe that the industry is no longer limited by supply, but by demand, due to high prices and interest, but still retail sales are doing well”, says Pagliarini.

From January to September, 1.5 million vehicles were sold, of which 105,000 are trucks and buses and the rest are automobiles and light commercial vehicles.

To reach Anfavea’s projection for the year, of total sales of 2.14 million units, it will be necessary to sell 637 thousand vehicles in the last three months, between retail and direct sales (for rental companies, fleet owners, etc.).

The goal is possible to be achieved, assesses the president of the National Association of Vehicle Manufacturers (Anfavea), Márcio de Lima Leite. If confirmed, the volume will be just 1% higher than in 2021, and 23% lower than in 2019, before the pandemic, when it reached 2.78 million vehicles. For him, the high interest rate still does not have a strong impact on the market because of pent-up demand.

Pagliarini recalls, however, that in 2021 the average price of cars rose 17 percentage points above inflation. This year the high is 4 points above the official inflation.

The information is from the newspaper. The State of São Paulo.