According to recent research from Reportlinker, the automotive market in Latin America in 2015 experienced a challenging scenario with the overall market declining. Mexico was the only region where the automotive market grew. This declining trend is expected to continue in 2016, according to Reportlinker. However, the market presents a number of opportunities in the powertrain, e-mobility, connected cars, mobility and aftermarket sectors.
New market entrants and disruptors are reshaping the automotive market in Latin America, Reportlinker says.
In its most recent study, the research firm provides a detailed outlook of what to expect from the Latin American passenger vehicle market in 2016— its major disruptive trends, market shifts and market winners. This report offers a 360-degree overview, before concluding with top predictions and a key outlook for 2016.
2015 Key Highlights of the Study
Chile overtook Colombia as the fourth largest automotive market in the region. Renault-Nissan became the second largest OEM in the region, overtaking FCA and VW Group. In Brazil, General Motors became the second largest OEM and overtook the VW Group.
Regulations in Latin America continued to shape the market dynamics. For example:
- INOVAR Auto (Brazil) encouraged cleaner powertrains
- CONTRAN 245 (Brazil) for connected cars was suspended after years of discussion
- Electronic Vehicles (EVs) in Brazil benefitted from import tax
- “Luxury tax” impacted sales in Argentina
- “Green tax” in Chile reshaped market sales
With an increasing number of new and in-progress local greenfield and brownfield production plants announced in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina in 2015, Latin America is expected to position itself as a automotive export hub in the short- to medium-term.
In the wake of declining vehicle sales, the automotive value chain in Latin America has started to realign strategies beyond the product and more toward including a focus on different services, such as financial services, connected services, aftermarket e-commerce, mobility-related services and customer relationship management.
Read the full report here.
