Market-driven specialisation. The recent formation of the production hub of light commercial vehicles in Argentina in a context of external economic problems

PEREZ ALMANSI, BRUNO

The Automotive Industry in Emerging Economies: Actors, Policies and Structural Issues

Palgrave

Año: 2024;

The aim of this chapter is to analyse the main characteristics and performance of the Argentinian automotive sector during the first part of the 21st century. The chapter begins by describing the sector´s evolution in subsequent stages, including the post-convertibility phase (2002-2015), the Cambiemos´ government (2015-2019), and the Covid-19 pandemic (2020-2022). Two main trends are highlighted in this trajectory. Firstly, the constant trade deficit of the sector in contexts of economic crises. Secondly, the productive specialisation of the Argentinian automotive industry in medium pick-up trucks in the second decade of the century. The particularity of the latter is that this process was driven by the market, differentiating this case from the Thai productive specialisation through its "product champion" policy. The research is based on specialised literature and various statistical sources.