Braking, the truck market is turning to the future | News instantly from LAVOZ.com.ar

With 22,000 units, the truck market in Argentina had an outstanding 2017 year. This year, I was expecting something more, but stagnated and began to fall in June

According to data from the Association of Car Dealers (Acara), the heavyweight segment is the one that fell the most in June, 29.5%; while the rest of the units fell by 15.5% compared to the same month last year.

But the sector wants to reactivate the market once the financial situation has stabilized thanks to the replacement of the units. The bet is on the Bitrenes, units 25.5 meters long and able to move up to 75 tons; Raúl Barcesat, director of the truck division of Mercedes Benz, who ran Colcar, its dealer in Córdoba, the presentation of two new truck lines imported from Germany: Actros, for the cargo – which includes a bitrén model – and the Arocs line, for construction and road works.

With 24 dealers in the country and more than 60 points of sale, Mercedes Benz has a 26% market share.

Córdoba represents just under eight percent of its sales.

"Bitrén has been very successful in Brazil, and in Argentina its adoption will be slow, because at the moment they can only travel on Route 9 between Cordoba and Campana and the Buenos Aires-Misiones corridor. Of these, 200 will be sold until the end of the year, "said the executive.

Some of these equipments are badembled in Colcar for the transportation of Coca Cola and Holcim products.

Barcesat, they will have evolutionary trucks. "In general, in the freight market, light trucks accounted for 40% and heavy trucks, 37%." The outlook is to lower medium and heavy units of growth, "he said.

But for this should stabilize the foreign exchange market.

"For now, the handbrake is set.The biggest drop is in the public services; The self-employed and SMEs are going through a difficult period, they do not think about changing vehicles because the costs increase, "said Gerardo Majul, Colcar's chief commercial officer, who pays 50 per cent of the value in 12 to 18 tranches at a zero rate, and also offers rates of 22 to 26 per cent for longer terms or a higher percentage. high.