Automakers reach the end of the year with little to no fun

When June ended, ADEFA assembly plants had produced 250,000 units, of which nearly 130,000 had been exported. The factory’s production and export numbers were good compared to the previous year, with cumulative increases of 15% in production and 2.2% in exports.

While this was happening, sales at dealerships were “flying”: a growing supply of below-inflation collateral loans combined with an increased supply of national and imported cars boosted zero-kilometre vehicle registrations by almost 80% (77.8%) between January and June.

In the second half of the year, that favorable picture within factories has been reversed: vehicle manufacturing has accumulated four consecutive months of declines compared to the same month of the previous year, and by the end of the year, ADEFA manufacturers estimate that the number will be “similar” to last year’s 506,000 units, which will decline by a similar percentage to that 15% increase in the first six months.

The key to this decline was the loss of foreign markets: exports went from increasing by 2.2% to declining cumulatively by 10% in the first 10 months of the year. The domestic industry, which sold nearly 256,000 cars abroad between January and October 2024, fell to just under 230,000 cars.

In an important plant like Stellantis in El Palomar, where Peugeot cars are produced and which this year aims to produce 75,000 units, this decline in exports has been strongly felt: within the company, figures for 2025 show a sale to Brazil and other foreign destinations of 21,000 units of the Peugeot 208 and Peugeot 2008, against 28,000 units a year ago. Palomar’s numbers will eventually pan out, with production set to be 6% higher than 71,000 units in 2024. But a decline in export sales has curtailed production expansion, and Stellantis announced on Tuesday that it will bring forward a “technical pause” from the beginning of this month until January 5.

Stellantis’ internal statement talks about “maintenance and adaptation tasks of the industrial system.” But sources from the sector confirmed that the outage, which lasted approximately 40 days, was also due to an “inventory adjustment” to place already produced units.

On the outskirts of Rosario, the factory GM It maintains its activity but reduces the number of its employees to a minimum. Throughout 2024 and this year, there have been successive voluntary retirement plans through which the company has reduced its headcount by almost half: from just over 1,000 workers at the start of 2024, there will now be fewer than 600. The newspaper reported this week. DC From Rosario, citing sources from the SMATA union, another GM distanced itself 90 workers With seniority exceeding 15 years, after being granted the equivalent of 120% of their compensation. Clarin consulted the company, where they responded that they would not comment. What is certain is, yes, that the company will begin the “technical downtime” and vacations on December 15, initially until January 18.

GM produces in Rosario Chevrolet Trackeran SUV type vehicle with good sales in the local market (with 17,000 units, occupying ninth place between January and November) but It is also produced in Brazila destination where sales were lower than expected and affected exports to that country. Within General Motors, at the beginning of the year, there was talk of reaching production of 40,000 to 45,000 Tracked vehicles, which is now It will be far from fulfilling.

Car sales at dealerships also slowed. It has accumulated high 77.8% In the first semester, it was greatly toned down 49.5% At the end of November, with 587,000 patented units but also with Yellow light: November sales for the first time in the year, It was lower (-3.9%) than in the same month of the previous year. This, despite the fact that there is already a huge supply of tens of thousands of duty-free Chinese vehicles being sold at dealerships at prices ranging between those of “entry-level” cars ($22,000) to products from the so-called “C segment” but at B-segment SUV prices ($35,000).

Added to this panorama is the closure of the Nissan Pickup plant, where both the Nissan Frontier and Renault Alaska were manufactured. In that factory located in Cordoba, in the Santa Isabel neighborhood, Renault It also just announced the end of production of the Sandero, Stepway and Logan models, to make way for the new production line for the compact pickup truck (after investing $350 million) Which will go into production only during Second semester From next year.

The ADiva Chamber expressed concern about the decline in exports in a recent meeting with Minister Luis Caputo, instead Automotive Component Manufacturers Association Afaq indicated in its latest report that the trade deficit in auto spare parts (due to increased incomes of imported spare parts, as exports witnessed a slight increase) rose to $7.4 billion Only in the first nine months of the year.

On Tuesday, the Auto Parts Committee in Chamber of Metallurgy and Components Industries in Cordoba (CIMCC): Its directors warned that 2026 “It will be a very complex year for the automotive industryThey added: “The current situation in Argentina presents… Dynamic car market but industry in declineThe loss of size and national content in Cordoba explains much of the country’s productive decline.

Cordoba is the second automotive center after the province of Buenos Aires. Metallurgists from Cordoba have summarized a year that ended in difficulties:

• Plant closures, as in the case of Nissan, implying the loss of a relevant part of the provinces’ installed capacity.

• Discontinuation of projects with high local content, such as the Alaska/Frontier double-edged, combined with reduced production of Kronos, which significantly reduces demand for national components and has a multiplier effect on the supplier chain.

• Transition to new global models such as Titano/RAM and Niagara, which with their different characteristics have a limited impact in the short term (through 2026).

• A decline in IVECO activity, which led to a 50% decrease in production and days of downtime until the first half of 2026.

• Volkswagen’s current operations in Cordoba focus exclusively on the production of trucks containing mostly imported components, which implies that its activity does not extend into the local supplier ecosystem or generate significant demand for national auto parts.

One of the measures requested by the metallurgical industrialists of Cordoba The aim was to extend the validity of trade restrictions imposed by Mercosur (FLEX) after 2029, when a date is set for its completion and thus free trade without tariffs between Argentina and Brazil. “This extension is necessary to provide predictability to bilateral trade, avoid negative effects resulting from the asymmetry of competitiveness with Brazil and ensure stable conditions for productive planning and investments in this sector,” they claimed.