South America: a land of contrasts

Between Brazil's huge fleet – which alone accounts for half of the continent's total fleet – and growth in other major markets such as Mexico, Chile and, above all, Argentina, whose economy appears to be picking up, South America is attracting a lot of interest. Starting with Stellantis, which has announced an investment plan of some €5.6 billion for the period 2025-2030, and China and its many manufacturers who are investing in the market... The spare parts market is estimated at nearly $60 billion by Expert Market Research. And given the average age of the vehicle fleet, after-sales needs are expected to see this market grow by 6.6% annually over the period 2026-2035. Another interesting feature of the South American market is digitalisation. Although searching for information on parts and their prices is rapidly becoming widespread, this is not yet translating into purchases. Mercadolibre, the South American equivalent of eBay, has not yet integrated the specificities of this market...

But their degree of maturity varies greatly. Chile is at the forefront in this respect. Open for years, the market has been structured by large importers who have introduced a growing number of car brands, including Chinese manufacturers, which now hold 30% of the market share! In this respect, the continent has not – yet – turned to alternative energies: with less than 2% of registrations, mainly in Brazil (see next page), electric vehicles are not a big hit, due to their prohibitive cost for the vast majority of households and the embryonic state of the recharging infrastructure. The Chilean market is also the most structured in terms of after-sales service networks.

Despite its border with the United States, Mexico's vehicle fleet is almost exclusively thermal, with 31 million vehicles on the road and, like Argentina's fleet, a high proportion of pick-ups. Last year, it recorded record vehicle sales of more than 1.5 million units... including, once again, a significant proportion of Chinese models! Another distinctive feature of Mexico is that, according to the Gipa Institute, 20 to 24% of its vehicles are ‘chocolate cars’, the name given to old American used cars that cross the border.

After a period marked by rampant inflation, 2025 seems to have been a turning point for the Argentine market, the continent's third largest fleet with 11 million vehicles. Firstly, there was a dramatic recovery in new vehicle sales, which rose by 50%. However, this has not been enough to reverse the trend towards an ageing fleet, whose average age is 12 years, with an unprecedented structure due to the number of cars over 10 years old in circulation and, above all, those over 15 years old, which continues to increase. ‘The intermediate fleet, i.e. cars between 5 and 10 years old, is very small, forcing all after-sales players to adapt their strategies, portfolios and messaging with older car drivers in mind, who have many needs but few resources. This is a major challenge!’ explains Florencia Delucchi, Director of Gipa Argentina.

However, inflation, although it has fallen, is expected to reach 35% this year. In this context, Argentinians are turning to financing solutions. The ‘do it yourself’ approach, which has been very underdeveloped until now, also seems to be gaining ground. This is a sign of extremely tight budgets. ‘This is a time of change and movement for both users and professionals, with alternatives and new developments on the horizon!’ concludes the Director of Gipa Argentina.