The sale of vehicles 0 kilometer had a great performance during 2023 in Uruguay, driven by a cheap dollar and the increase of purchasing power which allowed a 9.9% year-on-year growth in the sector’s marketing.
Despite not having achieved the record, the sale of 0km vehicles was very good last year: 60,487 new units were sold, according to official data from the Automotive Trade Association (ACAU).
With a growth of 9.9% year-on-year, the 2023 result was just 570 units below 2013, which still holds the annual sales record for the sector. Likewise, last year seven 0km per hour vehicles were purchased.
The vehicles utilitarian were the favorites, particularly the sport utility vehicles (SUV), whose sales figures doubled compared to six years ago. The category of automobiles, On the other hand, it had a small decline in the year-on-year comparison.
The reasons behind the increase in sales
The growth in sales of the sector during 2023 can be explained by three fundamental factors that allowed maintaining dynamism in general private consumption: a relatively “ironed” exchange ratea improvement in real salary of the workers, and a working market which remained dynamic during the year.
In the first case, the cheap dollar which was generalized—mostly at a value oscillating between 38 and 39 pesos, dragging a depreciation of 10.35% in 2022—favored the demand for goods marketed in this currency. This is because the more affordable the US currency is, the cheaper the relative prices of products whose value is referenced to the greenback.
Added to this was also the recovery of the purchasing power of Uruguayans from the consolidation of the recovery of real wageswhich in November marked an increase of 4% on average compared to the same month in 2022 — and 1.6% compared to 2019, improving the values prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Along with a labor market that remained dynamic, These factors contributed to making 0km vehicles an accessible good for Uruguayans during 2023, as the annual sales figures for the sector ended up demonstrating.
December balance
For its part, December showed good monthly results, as is usual for the last month of the year. With a total of 6,635 new units sold, it was the best December since 2019 and also marked the eighth consecutive month of growth On sales.
In this monthly cut, utility vehicles were also protagonists, with 2,436 vehicles sold, double that of the last month of 2022. As for SUVs, 1,475 units were sold (+34%); while automobiles recorded sales of 2,387 units (-17.5%). In trucks, 282 units were sold, with a decrease of 18% compared to the same month of the previous year.
Source: Ambito
