Abstract

YANEZ, César  and  BADIA-MIRO, Marc. El consumo de automóviles en la América Latina y el Caribe (1902-1930). El trimestre econ [online]. 2011, vol.78, n.310, pp.317-342. ISSN 2448-718X.

The automobile as a durable consumer good spread in Latin America in the first three decades of the 20th century. The consumption of automobiles in the region was determined by foreign trade, with the exception of some countries which in the 1920s managed to set up automobile assembly plants with imported parts. This only occurred in places where both the market was big enough and income levels, high enough - Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay. Additional factors explaining the spread of the consumption of automobiles are the expansion of protectionist measures and a greater inequality in income distribution. In this regard, we propose that there was a negative impact on final consumption when consumption was biased towards up-market automobiles, while in those countries where consumption per inhabitant is high there is a proportionally greater consumption of down-market vehicles. Automobile imports show much of automobile consumption and allow us to calculate the vehicles in use, as well as to indicate which countries produced automobiles. The role played in these countries by the United States is virtually absolute as from 1920, after the First World War, although prior to this it had to share much of the market, albeit reduced, with various countries - France, Italy, Germany and Great Britain.

Keywords : Automobile; Durable consumer goods; Latin American Trade.

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