Buyers in the South American country of Chile are facing long waiting lists as available supplies of the Chevy Silverado pickup truck lag well behind demand.
Per a recent report from Bloomberg, the current estimated delivery date for a new Duramax diesel-powered Chevy Silverado pickup truck is October of 2022. The report cites Carol Castillo, a saleswoman at a Chevy dealership in the Chilean capital city of Santiago, who says customers are shocked and frustrated by the long wait times.
Like the rest of the world, Chile is facing limited vehicle supply due to the ongoing global microchip shortage, including for the Chevy Silverado. However, the shortage is particularly impactful in the South American country as Chile’s economy hits high gear, leading to a spending spree among consumers and surge in demand.
Per the Bloomberg report, Chile’s economy is expected to grow by a massive 11.5 percent this year, marking a record for the country, as well as making it the fastest-growing major economies. Driving that growth is a number of factors, including sustained momentum built over the ‘80s and ‘90s following free-market reforms put in place by dictator Augusto Pinochet’s “Chicago Boys.” Additionally, Chile recently allowed for early withdrawals from private pension funds, injecting $49 billion in the Chilean economy.
Further government handouts enacted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and a high 75-percent vaccination rate are also key to Chile’s recent economic boom.
“The money came in and then people started to buy cars like crazy,” Castillo told Bloomberg.
The spending spree has resulted in a 97-percent increase in car sales for August of 2021 compared to same month in 2020. Durable goods were up 130 percent in the second quarter of the year as compared to 2020.
“We’ve seen a strong recovery in confidence among both households and companies,” said the chief economist for Chile and Colombia at Banco Itau, Andres Perez. “It reflects, on one hand, significant improvements in the health situation, and also an environment with ample stimulus and liquidity.”
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Comments
I MAY NOT SLEEP ALL WEEK READING THIS NEWS ABOUT THE CHEVY TRUCK AND CHILE.
Are we supposed to care? I’m more concerned about US availability.
We’ve been waiting in US for years for a RCSB.
I am with Bear.
There is an interesting point in the article. It is written that they will get Duramax equipped trucks, but production of that engine has been stopped roughly a month ago. Are these trucks ‘old stock’ / took a looong time to ship them over there or perhaps, while I would be surprised, ‘new stock’ / GM have restarted production of the 3L Duramax engine?
Working on all makes and models and owning all a one time I still have a hard time picking one over another,GM, Ford,Dodge it does not matter they all have been good and bad.