There are more and more. In silence, they make a place not only in the streets of Buenos Aires, but in those of the entire planet. On the surface, they do not show their differential value, but the environment welcomes them. The rise of sustainable cars is gaining more and more strength in the world. In turn, although they represent a minimal portion of the local market, in Argentina, in 2022 alone, 7,849 hybrid and electric units were sold, 33% more than in 2021, when the figure had been 5,871.
For its part, in 2023 the trend remains firm, following the growth path of recent years. According to official data, in the first half of the year a total of 4,672 units of this type were patented, 33.7% more than in the same period of 2022, where 3,494 were registered.
In this way, the average monthly sales is 780 units,
against 654 each month last year. Likewise, the dominance of vehicles with hybrid powertrains remained at 96.3%, while electric vehicles reached 2.7%. Along these lines, an increase of almost 400% in sales of light hybrids stands out compared to the first six months of 2022.
If an x-ray is taken of the protagonists, the Japanese toyota continues to lead the sales ranking (Corolla Cross, Corolla and RAV4), followed by Rod (Kuga), Coradir Tito, DS 7 Crossback, Peugeot and Mercedes-Benz. Among this select group, the Coradir Tito brand stands out, Here, the Association of Automotive Dealers of the Argentine Republic (TO FACE), notices the relevant fact: the appearance of a national production company that placed a product in the top 5 sales. ““The Tito is clearly a private vehicle, not comparable with the offering of the rest of the global automotive companies, which come with products in the medium-high or high segments,” highlights the entity in a report.
Strategies. In the group Stellantis (the fourth largest vehicle manufacturer in the world as a result of the merger of the PSA Group with FIAT Chrysler Automobiles), highlight the commitment “to contribute to a decarbonized economy by involving our talents and assets on the path towards carbon neutrality in our products and plants.” Likewise, they explain that they offer their clients freedom of movement through sustainable mobility solutions that take advantage of their “leadership in clean and advanced technologies and support us in the fight against climate change. Today, we have 29 electrified models available to consumers.”
For its part, Volkswagen Group It also puts its chips on what is to come: “We are the first automaker to adhere to the ‘Paris Agreement’. Within this line, the group considers that the development of electric batteries is the most certain way to achieve the objectives of the agreement,” he explains. Thomas Owsianskipresident and CEO of Volkswagen Group Argentina and Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Volkswagen SAM. Currently, VW is dedicating, on a global scale, €73 billion to the development of future technologies, of which €35 billion will correspond to battery-electric cars. The Volkswagen Group’s intention is to launch around 70 fully electric vehicles by 2030, of which 20 are already in production today. In this process, it foresees that 2026 will be the last year in which it introduces a new platform for the manufacture of combustion vehicles.
The phenomenon is so clear to automakers that, by 2050, Toyota will no longer sell cars with internal combustion engines. “Around 2025 we expect that each model of the brand will have at least one electrified option among its versions,” the Japanese company highlights. Toyota’s current electrified vehicle strategy focuses on an acceleration of the development and launch of hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), battery electric vehicles (BEV) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV). .
The Japanese company was a pioneer with this technology when it launched the Prius model in 2009 (the first mass-produced electrified hybrid vehicle in the world). “Today, we have five electrified hybrid models: Corolla, Corolla Cross, C-HR, RAV4 and Prius,” they add from the terminal. Last January, Toyota surpassed the barrier of 15 million in sales of hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) in the world since the launch of the Prius (1997). Now, it is moving forward to popularize electrified vehicles, with the goal of marketing more than 5.5 million units by 2030.
Present. In this context, electromobility does not stop growing in Argentina. In 2021, the National Government presented the “Law for the Promotion of Sustainable Mobility”, but it was not followed up and lost its parliamentary status. Given this, we are currently waiting for new bills, one of them proposed by the Argentine Association of Electric and Alternative Vehicles. In this initiative, the creation of the “Federal Pilot Network of Electrical and Alternative Charging Infrastructure” is promoted with the objective of enabling the massive deployment of the most appropriate systems for each region. “It may be implemented through support for public, private or mixed initiatives; and its electric and alternative charging points may be installed either independently, or at Service Stations, both new and pre-existing with conventional fuels”, points out the entity’s document. While sales grow, waiting for the final push, sustainable cars accelerate on the starting line to take the lead and dominate the market.
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by Marcelo Alfano
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