Benchmarking the best car model for your Latam fleet
One of the responsibilities of procurement professionals in multinational companies is to acquire vehicles for their collaborators across multiple countries. And one way of benchmarking the best models is by conducting a regional study, something that global financial advisory firm Willis Towers Watson has done in Latin America.
Although the study analyzed the fleet scenario in nine countries, being Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, and Panama (in the order of the largest sample), Fleet LatAm will be focusing on the three largest countries below.
Regarding CEOs, the most common car models in Brazil were found to be Hyundai Santa Fe, Ford Fusion, and Land Rover Discovery. In Argentina, they were Volkswagen Passat, Audi A4 and Toyota Corolla, and in Mexico, they were Audi Q5, Audi A4 and BMW X5, according to the survey results.
2020 Hyundai Santa Fe (source: Hyundai)
As for Managers, the breakdown was as follows: Brazil (Toyota Corolla, Jeep Renegade, Ford Focus); Argentina (Volkswagen Vento, Toyota Corolla, Ford Focus), and Mexico (Volkswagen Jetta, Mazda 3, Honda CR-V).
Finally, when considering sales professionals, the most common models were: Brazil (Chevrolet Cobalt, Ford Ka, Toyota Etios); Argentina (Ford Fiesta, Toyota Hilux, Volkswagen Suran); and Mexico (Nissan Versa, Volkswagen Vento, Chevrolet Aveo).
In terms of electrification, there is a gradual transition to hybrid vehicles taking place, especially in Mexico, but the use of full electric vehicles (EV) is yet to start taking off.
“I am impressed with the transition to hybrid cars taking place in pharmaceutical companies for sales representatives in Mexico. In the last two years, I have seen six companies moving toward hybrid vehicles,” Willis Towers Watson associate director and senior consultant Javier Brasser told Fleet LatAm.
Javier Brasser speaks at Fleet LatAm Conference 2019 in Mexico City in September (source: Fleet LatAm)
Considering the Toyota Prius hybrid, it is approximately 380,000 pesos (US$20,000) in Mexico, a good price compared to other countries in the region.
Regarding full-electrics, most governments are just not providing enough incentives and these vehicles are still quite expensive, said the consultant, explaining that they are at least double the price of an internal combustion engine car.
Although they are costly in the short-term, EVs are viable in the long-term for certain driver profiles (e.g. those that drive 250km-350km per day and can set aside time for recharging).
