A total of 193,580 vehicles were manufactured in Argentina in the first half of the year – 123.9 percent more than in the same period last year, when production was all but paralysed by the coroanvirus pandemic, the Association of Automobile Manufacturers (ADEFA) reported on Tuesday.
The industry, one of Argentina’s largest, registered particularly strong numbers in June, with 40,035 units manufactured – 14.5 percent more than in May and 155.7 percent up on the same month the previous year.
ADEFA also said that in the first semester, automotive factories exported 107,877 units, which represents an increase of 102.7 percent compared to the same period last year when 53,222 vehicles were sold abroad.
In the domestic market, meanwhile, between January and June, 172,426 units were sold to dealers – 40 percent more than the 123,158 that were delivered in the first half of 2020.
"The results of the first semester underline the efforts made within the entire value chain since we resumed operations after the [coronavirus] quarantine to return to the path of growth, despite the logistical and health limitations at an international level," said ADEFA President Daniel Herrero in a statement.
Argentina’s economy has been showing signs of recovery of late, after registering a huge 9.9 percent contraction in 2020 as Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns hit businesses across the country. That slump followed two previous years of recession.
Economic activity grew 28.3 percent in April from the previous year, according to data from the INDEC national statistics bureau, though it fell 1.2 percent compared to March, when a brief nine-day Covid-19 lockdown was imposed.
According to INDEC, gross domestic product rose by 8.2 percent in the first four months of this year, compared to the same period in 2020.
– TIMES/AFP
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