Venezuelan Auto Market in the 2017 has lost 18% reaching a level just over the 2.000 units – from 122.000 in the 2012 – while the country slides into chaos, following the decision to redraw the current Constitution.
Venezuelan economy remains stuck in an economic meltdown. According to opposition lawmakers, inflation skyrocketed to 2,616% last year, with hyperinflation seen in December as consumer prices rose 85% month-on-month. The currency nosedived passed 150,00 VEF per USD on the black market as of 9 January, and persistent basic goods and medicine shortages have provoked a humanitarian crisis. The government raised the minimum wage by 40% at the start of 2018, but the increase still puts the amount at around USD 2.0 per month at the black market exchange rate, doing little to shore up decimated private consumption.
Venezuelan auto market had been the third largest in South America few years ago, before than the economy was destroyed by dictatorships. Just in the 2012 the market declined at 126.000 units, but in the following five years it dropped to near zero. Indeed according to data released by the CAVENEZ, the local association of car manufacturers, in 2017 total vehicles sales have been 2.461, down 18.0%.
