Argentina April 2020: Quarantine locks market down -88.3% to lowest volume in 60 years

Buenos Aires during the COVID-19 quarantine.

Argentina was under a strict national quarantine during April with dealership closed across the country and the Automotive Registries only reopening on April 22 to process registrations. On April 26, the quarantine was extended to May 10. As a result, the only sales made in April are registrations of vehicles purchased before the quarantine and a handful of online sales. April is down -88.3% year-on-year to just 4.385 units, the lowest monthly volume since vehicle production started in Argentina in 1960. The year-to-date volume is now down -46.3% to 94.849 sales. 

In the brands ranking, Volkswagen (-89.6%) is back to the #1 spot it holds YTD with 13.1% share, distancing Renault (-92.1%) at 10.4%, Toyota (-91.1%) at 9.6% and Fiat (-88.5%) at 9.5%. Chevrolet (-90.6%) is down two spots on March to round out the Top 5. Jeep (-87.3%) posts the best hold in the Top 10, whereas Nissan (-92.5%), Ford (-91.6%), Citroen (-90%) and Peugeot (-89.2%) all fall slightly faster than the market. Lexus (+150%), JMC (+50%), Mitsubishi (-50%), Isuzu (-57.1%) and Scania (-61.4%) resist best further down.

Model-wise, the Chevrolet Onix (-84.1%) 3peats at #1, outselling the Toyota Hilux (-91.1%) which however remains in the YTD lead. The VW Gol (-84.3%) and Ford Ka (-88.4%) are both up one spot on March to #3 and #4 respectively, with the Fiat Toro (-81.3%) up 16 ranks to round out the Top 5. The Ford Ranger (-88.2%) is back up 11 spots to #8 and the VW T-Cross lodges a 4th consecutive month at a record 9th place, by far topping all recent launches.

Previous month: Argentina March 2020: Chevrolet Onix (+12.5%) defies market hit by coronavirus lockdown (-54.4%)

One year ago: Argentina April 2019: Renault 3peats at #1 in market down -51.3%

Full April 2020 Top 40 All-brands and Top 135 All-models below.