Just Released: "Chile Autos Report 2013"

New Transportation research report from Business Monitor International is now available from Fast Market Research

by Bill Thompson

(WireNews+Co) - Boston, MA - 07 January 2013

Total new vehicle sales in Chile reached 356,183 units in 2011, an increase of 16.2% year-on-year (y-oy), according to figures from the National Automotive Association of Chile (ANAC). New passenger car (PC), sport utility vehicle (SUV) and light commercial vehicles (LCV) sales were fell 2% as of the end of July, at 183,738 units. However, heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) and bus sales were up 11%, at 13,776 units. Taken together, this represented a total of 197,514 vehicles sold year-to-date in Chile. End-August figures for PC, SUV and LCV sales were yet more encouraging, down by only 0.5% y-o-y. Given that seasonal trends indicate that the second half of the year is historically more buoyant for new car sales than the first half, BMI is now forecasting a 1.3% increase in new vehicle sales in Chile for 2012. This is made up of a 1% increase in PC, SUV and LCV sales and a 6% rise in HCV/bus sales.

View Full Report Details and Table of Contents (http://www.fastmr.com/prod/513956_chile_autos_report_2013.aspx) (http://www.fastmr.com/prod/513956_chile_autos_report_2013.aspx)

Beyond 2012, BMI is upbeat on the outlook for the Chilean new car sales market. Although BMI's Macroeconomic team believes that GDP growth will slow to 4% in 2013, from 4.8% in 2012, this is still a fairly strong figure. Moreover, the slowing economy should force the Banco Central de Chile to trim interest rates, with BMI predicting that the central bank will cut interest rates by 50 basis points (bps), from 5%, to 4.5%. This should provide some support to new car loans and, by extension, new car sales.

This report also examines the long-term prospects for electric vehicle (EV) sales in Chile. The government is aiming for 70,000 EVs to be on Chilean roads by 2020 (equivalent to around 1% of the national fleet). To help reach this aim, the government is launching pilot schemes aimed at demonstrating EV technology to Chilean car buyers and is also looking to build a countrywide network of charging stations. Chile could also be set to develop an indigenous car battery assembly capability over the coming years, given that the country boasts the second largest lithium reserves in the world (around 23% of global supplies). Lithium is a key component of electric car batteries.

In terms of new car sales, Chevrolet - a subsidiary of US auto giant General Motors Company (GM) - remains the dominant player in Chile. As of end-July 2012, Chevrolet had a 17% market share across the PC, SUV and LCV segment and a 5.6% market share within the HCV/bus sector. Jostling for second place in the Chilean new vehicle sales market are Japanese automaker Nissan Motor and Korean giant Hyundai Motor. Looking solely at the PC, SUV and LCV segment, Nissan has just shaded Hyundai, selling 19,811 units in January to July 2012, for a market share of 10.8%, compared with Nissan's 19,462 units (10.6%). However, Hyundai also sold 373 HCVs and 36 buses in Chile, accounting for a 3% market share, whereas Nissan had sold just three HCVs in total in Chile over the year to date.

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