Graphic courtesy of istockphoto.com

Graphic courtesy of istockphoto.com

Peru has experienced strong economic growth during the past five years, making it one of the fastest-growing economies in Latin America.

This has been mainly due to Peru’s open market strategy, which has established new free trade agreements with 38 countries, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, European Union, and NAFTA countries. In addition, Peru is negotiating trade agreements with nine other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and Turkey.

Nearly 95% of Peru’s exports are covered by free trade agreements.

Peru is the world’s third-largest producer of copper, zinc, and silver. Its economy is highly dependent on mining and vulnerable to the vagaries of volatile commodity prices.

Peru’s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who formally took office on July 28, 2016, has introduced a broad agenda of policies to stimulate economic activity to offset the decline in commodity prices, which is closely related to the economic slowdown in China, one of Peru’s main trading partners.

The non-mining sectors of the economy are stagnant due to weak domestic demand and depreciation of the Peruvian currency, the sol, against the U.S. dollar, which has increased the cost of imported products.

In terms of the automotive market, total vehicle sales peaked in 2013 at 201,326 units. It declined to 187,061 sales in 2014, and declined again in 2015 to 172,503 sales.

“The fleet market in Peru for 2016 is forecast to be around 10% of total automotive sales of 171,000 units, which is a decrease from 2015,” said Marcelo Tezoto, South America fleet sales development manager for GM.

The total number of vehicles in operation in Peru, including private fleet, is 4,264,114.

About the author
Mike Antich

Mike Antich

Former Editor and Associate Publisher

Mike Antich covered fleet management and remarketing for more than 20 years and was inducted into the Fleet Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Global Fleet of Hal in 2022. He also won the Industry Icon Award, presented jointly by the IARA and NAAA industry associations.

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