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38 October 2018 | AutoData T he political-economic life ofArgentina is so agitated that the few announ- cements and projections presented become outdated in a matter of days, sometimes hours. The automotive sector started the year with optimism, but the dollar increase, inflation and sharp decline in activity strongly affected the industry, which month-over-month revised its ex- pectations downwards. The mood of the executives of compa- nies operating in the Argentine market is no longer the same since May, when the crisis became more evident. And the strict and unexpected official measures do not provide enough security to risk that the recovery will be coming soon. With the impulse of 2017 the first pro- jections for the year were positive. At the beginning of 2018 everything indicated that the production was going to grow dou- ble digits, which had not happened since 2011. And the same positive behavior was expected for domestic sales and exports. The programming for 2018, at that time, had 565 thousand units produced, 20% more than in 2017. Shipments could reach 300 thousand units, an increase of 43%. According to Luis Fernando Peláez Gamboa, president of Adefa, association By Mercedes Zimmer, from Buenos Aires ARGENTINA ON TANGO MODE 2018 was a seesaw in Brazil’s Mercosur partner: a great start followed by a strong crisis. 2019 is a mistery. PERSPECTIVES 2019 » ARGENTINA of Argentine manufacturers, “the impro- vement we have projected in the produc- tion and export programs was driven by important launches of local vehicles, the result of investments in our industry. And also by the improvement in the domestic market demand and the positive impact of the recovery of Brazil, after years of intense contraction, besides the diversification of exports to other markets”. Sales in 2018 could reach a historical record, close to 1 million units. Just as in 2017, the credit supply for the consumer, the inflation decline, and the aggressive commercial policy of the companies con- tributed for this result - and this scenario led many of them to advance imports to supply the chain. But since April all the prognoses have fallen like a house of cards. Inflation jum- ped, the immediate rise in prices hit do- mestic demand and retracted credit, Brazil did not respond as expected and the Ar- gentine government launched measures that attacked the heart of the industry: the exports. Committed to the federal program, 1 Million Plan, which set the goal of 1 million units produced by Argentina until 2023, and in search for tools to improve com-