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Used Cars Cost More than New Cars in Venezuela

Socialism at work.

At times, Venezuela is a place where the world seems to work in reverse. Take cars, for example.

The waiting list for a new car in Venezuela can last up to two years, so now every car that rolls out of a showroom immediately increases in value, making a used car more expensive than a new one.

“A year ago my car cost me 54,000 bolivars (around $25,115) and I can already sell it for over 65,000 ($30,230),” says a happy Hernando Camacho, who drives a Renault Clio.

[...]

Many Venezuelans view buying a car as a more secure investment than keeping their savings in a bank, where they can be eaten away by an inflation rate that hit 30.9% in 2008.

[...]

Last year the government implemented several measures to stimulate the motor industry, limiting imports and promoting the sale of cars assembled in the country.

But Cavenez complains that union conflicts and long delays in getting dollars at the official exchange rate from the Commission for Currency Administration (Cadivi) is killing a sector whose sales of new cars dropped by 44.8% in 2008.

Posted by Owen at 0724 hrs
Economy + Foreign Affairs

1. That’s the future of the American auto industry.

   Posted by steveegg on May 05, 2009 at 1521 hrs
   
   
   

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