Peru Watch: Auto sales, Santander auto financing push

Sales of new vehicles in Peru grew around 7% year-on-year in October – the first monthly increase since February.

Retailers sold 13,659 cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, station wagons and vans, state news agency Andina reported, citing data from Peruvian auto association AAP.

Local lender Banco de Crédito del Perú estimates that the country’s economy contracted around 8% year-on-year in September and that it shrank about 10% in the third quarter.

The figures compare to year-on-year drops of 9.8% and 30.2% reported for August and 2Q20, respectively. The contraction in July was 11.7%.

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Peruvian car financing company Santander Consumer has acquired a 55% stake in new and used online car sales platform Neoauto.

Santander purchased the stake from Empresa Editora El Comercio, a regulatory filing said.

“We look to generate value for car buyers and sellers, and Neoauto is ideal for achieving this,“ local press reported Santander Consumer board chairman Juan Pedro Oechsle as saying. “As well, we have commercial alliances with the best concessionaires in Peru to support this objective.”

The site attracts around 2mn visitors a month and the partnership will support access to credit and insurance.