MSG092G/01E //REPEAT//VENEZUELA-TRADE: Automotive Exports Hit 500 Million Dollars
CARACAS, Nov 10 (IPS) - Venezuela's automotive exports reached 500 million dollars this year, an achievement that will partially compensate a sharp drop in the South American nation's internal market, according to industry officials.
Carlos Cordido of the Chamber of Automotive Product Manufacturers stated that "this year, Venezuela will export some 150 million dollars in auto parts (50 percent more than in 1993), and nearly 20,000 assembled vehicles," almost double last year's total of 11,000.
The United States is the chief consumer of Venezuelan auto parts, importing 58 percent of the total, while Colombia receives 20 percent, Brazil four and Argentina three. Puerto Rico and Ecuador also import parts from Venezuela.
However, 88 percent of the country's finished vehicles go to Colombia, 10 percent to Ecuador and two percent to various Caribbean nations.
A 1993 agreement signed by Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela supported the integration of the Andean vehicle market, reducing tariffs by treating auto parts from one country in the region as domestic products in the others.
The agreement covers a subregional market of 200,000 vehicles, but an increase to 300,000 is hoped for by 1997.
Assembly plants in Venezuela have begun to turn to exportation to compensate for the drop in the domestic market, estimated at 44 percent for 1994.
Just 77,000 vehicles will have been bought in Venezuela by the end of this year, compared to 120,000 and as much as 150,000 in other years.
This week, in the context of Venezuelan assemblers' "Andean offensive," General Motors presented the first of eight planned "Andean Autos" to be released over the next two years. The model introduced is a "Blazer" designed as an all-terrain, all-weather vehicle.
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