Raúl Barcesat, presidente de Mercedes-Benz Camiones y Buses, anuncia la finalización de una nueva planta industrial en Zárate, Argentina, con una inversión de 110 millones de dólares. La planta incluye un centro logístico y social, y se espera que produzca hasta 10,000 camiones y buses al año. A pesar de los desafíos económicos del país, Barcesat destaca el potencial del mercado argentino con más de 500,000 camiones circulando. La renovación del parque automotor es crucial para reducir costos y contaminación. Además, se discute el futuro de las energías limpias en el sector automotriz.
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00:00with entrepreneurs and with industrialists to know, among other things,
00:06first of all, how it is to manufacture and produce in Argentina.
00:09It is not an easy country.
00:11What do you see, in any case, in an Argentina that is not easy to keep investing in?
00:17Raúl, how are you?
00:18Good morning.
00:19Raúl Barcesat is the president of Mercedes-Benz Trucks and Buses.
00:23When are you going to finish the plant? Are you finishing it in Zaratellar?
00:27Exactly. We are going to finish the construction of a new plant at the end of this year,
00:31which is an industrial center.
00:32There is the plant, the Autoparties and Supplies Logistics Center, the social building.
00:36An investment of?
00:37An investment of 110 million dollars, Antonio.
00:40We started it on December 22 and we are finishing it this year.
00:44How is it to produce in Argentina?
00:46Well, producing and working in Argentina is a huge challenge.
00:49We are lucky to commercialize products like the truck and the bus,
00:54which we always say are a thermometer of the economy, right?
00:57Because the truck transports the goods that we consume,
01:00the raw materials for other factories,
01:02and the bus transports people to work or for recreational activities.
01:05We always see a movie, because there are times when Argentina has a lower cost,
01:10in dollars, and then it starts to be more expensive.
01:12How many years do you have to see that movie?
01:15Let's see, we are from 1951.
01:18So, if one sees the worst photo of Argentina,
01:21it is very difficult to convince an amateur house to invest.
01:24When you see the Argentine market,
01:26there are more than 500,000 trucks running and 40,000 buses,
01:30and there should be a renovation, which I will tell you later,
01:33there is a potential that is attractive for a terminal like this in Argentina.
01:37And in fact, there are us and there are also competitors.
01:39But well, you have to go through all the locks that you encounter every day.
01:43How many trucks are there in the park?
01:45Circulating 500,000.
01:46And old age?
01:48That's the drama.
01:49We have been delaying the renovation for five years due to the economic crisis.
01:53We are around 28 years old,
01:55when in a normal country it would be 15 years old,
01:58the age of a truck park.
02:00Easy number, 25,000 to 30,000 trucks would have to be renovated,
02:04and there are 500,000, right?
02:055 or 6 percent.
02:06In the last 4 or 5 years we have renovated 12,000.
02:09All that is delay.
02:10It is more pollution, it is more road accidents,
02:13because they are less safe roads.
02:15It is more expensive.
02:16It is more expensive, exactly.
02:17So the cost of maintenance is already very expensive.
02:20And well, all that is, there is a lot to work and to do.
02:24And collectives?
02:25There are 40,000 collectives.
02:27There is a law that is fulfilled,
02:29except when there is an exception,
02:31that the park is a maximum of 10 years.
02:33I'm talking about everything that is urban, long-distance,
02:36what is school.
02:37Unfortunately, school buses run with old buses.
02:41So the rest is closer to an almost mathematical renovation.
02:45It should be 3,000, 4,000 buses a year, collectives a year.
02:48Tell me how it is.
02:50You manufacture.
02:51Yes.
02:52In the truck you manufacture.
02:53Chassis plus cabin.
02:54Exactly.
02:55I see my language, I don't know if you see it or not.
02:56No, it's perfect.
02:57The language is perfect.
02:58Then, according to the owner's use ...
03:01It goes to an equipment.
03:02It goes to the equipment, it goes to the van, it does not go to the van,
03:04it goes to whatever the body is different.
03:06Exactly.
03:07Is it the same in the collective?
03:08In the collective it is the same.
03:09We do what is called the chassis,
03:10in the truck with the cabin,
03:12and then there may be a refrigerator,
03:14a thermal box to distribute drinks,
03:16a fuel truck, a tanker truck,
03:18a concrete mixer to build.
03:20That is separate.
03:21That is separate.
03:22All this is done with local implementers,
03:24or local bodybuilders.
03:26And in the bus we still go, if you want,
03:28a little less than the truck.
03:29We do the chassis.
03:30Yes.
03:31Why?
03:32Because the cabin of the design goes with the bodybuilder.
03:34They are also local bodybuilders.
03:36The thing is the chassis, the engine, the seat and the steering wheel.
03:38Chassis, engine, the driving position, yes.
03:39Nothing else.
03:40And then there is all the design.
03:42We do front engine, rear engine,
03:45but well, there are ramps for disabled people,
03:47there are cities that ask for different configurations.
03:49So there we work with engineering,
03:51with the engineers of the bodybuilders.
03:53And there are very important bodybuilders in Argentina
03:55with a lot of labor too.
03:57But that is to say, from your assembly line,
03:59the bus chassis comes out alone.
04:01Yes, and it goes to a bodybuilder.
04:03And it goes to a bodybuilder,
04:04and there the final customer ends.
04:06With the colors of the bus line.
04:08There are a lot of people who use the whole bus line.
04:10Exactly.
04:11There are many guilds.
04:12We are talking about glass, plastic, fabric,
04:14plus everything that works in the automotive industry.
04:17Do you have the same problems as in the automotive industry,
04:19or is it different because it is heavy?
04:22No, no.
04:23You have the same problems and the same advantages too.
04:25The two things.
04:26We have flexibility in Argentina to subsist,
04:31that we have to explain abroad
04:34why we continue to bet on our country.
04:35We invest in the plant,
04:37we made the announcement at a very difficult time.
04:39There we are seeing the plant.
04:40It is huge.
04:41Well, there if you want ...
04:42Well, I have to ...
04:43There it is.
04:44This is last Friday.
04:46This is route 9, kilometer 90.
04:49This is in Zarate, very close to the port.
04:52What gives you an advantage
04:54is to have better logistical costs
04:56and more efficiency to export or import.
04:58That is the industrial ship.
05:00The construction is first the bases,
05:03and finally the roof,
05:04and then the floor is made.
05:06And there is the beach unit,
05:08the industrial beach,
05:09the social building.
05:10Here you are going to manufacture trucks and collectives.
05:13Trucks and collectives.
05:14How many per capacity and how many do you have?
05:16We have to work relatively simple
05:19with 10,000 trucks and collectives in this plant.
05:22And we also remanufacture boxes and engines.
05:25That is, the boxes and engines that are no longer used
05:29by antiquity, by state,
05:31we rework them and we put them on the market.
05:34But in addition to being able to make 10,000 units,
05:37or we can go up a little more,
05:39this new plant is going to be more efficient
05:41and we can produce all kinds of vehicles,
05:43all kinds of roof heights.
05:45Don't forget that a long-distance truck, Antonio,
05:47the driver is able to sleep four nights in the truck.
05:50That's why it has a dormitory cabin and everything.
05:52And it has a high roof so you can get in comfortably.
05:55How tall is the largest truck they make?
05:57In height?
05:58In height and in length.
05:59Well, I get in at a height of two meters.
06:01It can't be.
06:02It's called the Megaspace cabin.
06:04The highest cabin is just where I get in.
06:06You get in much more comfortably,
06:08even though it's very high.
06:09And the total length of a truck,
06:11taking out what is called the Mosquito,
06:14which is the one that transports cars,
06:16you may have seen it,
06:17that says the total length,
06:18well, it's 18.40,
06:20so it can't be an extension up to 22 meters.
06:23Then there are two-train trucks, which are more special.
06:25But still, in the Mosquito truck,
06:27you don't make all the parts?
06:29No, we always make the cabin and the chassis.
06:32And mining, for example?
06:34You see some trucks that are gigantic.
06:36Exactly.
06:37Well, those are vehicles off-road, 8x4,
06:39robust,
06:40they are very punished in height.
06:42And there,
06:44I think that nowadays it is attracting
06:46three great aspects to Argentina.
06:49That's why we see a recovery.
06:50Agro, which is our battle horse of a lifetime.
06:53Everything related to energy.
06:55Baca Muerta, I had the opportunity to go.
06:57Baca Muerta is going to end up exploding.
07:00And what is mining.
07:02Last year I was in Jujuy.
07:04I erroneously thought of lithium,
07:06because what we all talk about is white gold.
07:08But Argentina has gold and copper,
07:10and they say we have more copper than Chile.
07:12The same, well,
07:13it's actually on the other side of the mountain,
07:15you cross and you have all the copper from Chile
07:17and part of lithium.
07:18Exactly.
07:19And you say there is a neighboring country
07:21that lives exporting copper,
07:23and we have all that to explode.
07:25So,
07:26I think that having these three active legs
07:29is gradually driving this recovery
07:31that we are feeling.
07:33I was going to ask you that.
07:34Do you see growth in the production of vehicles?
07:38Yes.
07:39Today afternoon, for example,
07:40I was with an important client.
07:42For us,
07:43to make it relatively easy,
07:44the first quarter of 2024 was bad.
07:46Yes.
07:47That is, a drop of 30-35%
07:49compared to how we came.
07:50Yes.
07:51That we were already bad.
07:52That is, a drop of something bad.
07:53The second quarter began to stabilize,
07:55and the second quarter already paid the bill
07:57of that not so good first quarter.
07:59Good.
08:00Now, we finished the year,
08:02already in the last two months,
08:04almost 30% higher,
08:05and we are already dragging it for this year.
08:07I hope.
08:08Now you have seen that many more vehicles were patented,
08:10January, February, well.
08:12I am still surprised by the values,
08:13they are expensive.
08:15Well, now I'm not in cars,
08:16but cars had a deduction
08:17and I think they applied all the penalties.
08:19Yes, it depends on the internal position,
08:21it depends on the cars,
08:22but in the case of trucks.
08:23I never had taxes, never trucks.
08:25You never had,
08:26but the tax weight is the same as in cars?
08:29Yes, let's see,
08:30the VAT is 10.5,
08:32unlike the car, which is 21.
08:34There is a little less.
08:35But then the gross income,
08:36the taxes, the rates,
08:37the municipal rates.
08:38That is, the value of your truck,
08:40a 40% of your tax.
08:41A 40% of your tax.
08:42And the problem is to export.
08:44Well, that would mean,
08:45how do you compete with countries
08:46that have 20, 10,
08:48Brazil must have a lot less.
08:50Exactly.
08:51Well, we are also
08:52exporting buses to Mexico
08:55and that's where you have to fine-tune everything.
08:57Because as we have so many taxes,
08:59we have to lower the logistical cost.
09:01Being in Zarate the next day,
09:03near the port, it is easier.
09:05But then I think there is a line of work.
09:07We have, at the DEFA level of all the chambers,
09:09meetings with the Minister of Economy.
09:11We had two or three last year.
09:13And many of the things that the minister promised us
09:16were fulfilled.
09:17Because the reduction of the country's tax
09:19in two stages was carried out.
09:21It was possible to import without permits.
09:24It was possible to reduce the payment deadlines,
09:26which is the financial cost.
09:28It is cost, in short.
09:29Because if you take 180 days to pay
09:31in a country with inflation,
09:32you have to put it in the cost.
09:34Now you pay 30 days, which is normal,
09:36and you pay.
09:37All that favors starting to be competitive.
09:39You have to reduce taxes.
09:40We have to simplify the municipal,
09:42provincial and national taxes.
09:44At some point you have to sit down at a table
09:46and say, well, let's reduce it to four,
09:48or let's reduce it as follows,
09:50and let's stop with so many taxes.
09:52One last question.
09:54What about electricity?
09:56Well, let's see.
09:58The world goes to clean energy.
10:00What is not clear is how long the transition lasts.
10:02So, in general, everything...
10:04And it is not clear if it is electricity.
10:06And it is not clear if it is electricity.
10:08Very good point.
10:09In cars and urban distribution,
10:11today there is a lot of talk about lithium.
10:13But Mercedes, at a global level,
10:15is working for long distances
10:17with a truck for at least 800 kilometers to Cordoba,
10:20for example.
10:21They are working on hydrogen.
10:23Hydrogen would give you more autonomy.
10:25And many talk about what is cleaner.
10:27Because lithium also has to do with the battery
10:29when it ends up being useful.
10:31So, there will be a long transition.
10:33I, when we have meetings with the authorities,
10:35or the German embassy,
10:37or with ministers,
10:39I say, we are going to go to that.
10:41We have to see which one of all.
10:43But in the meantime, we have to eliminate
10:45or modify the old engine, Antonio.
10:47There are trucks that are before Euro 0.
10:49So, if we want to talk about...
10:51We are going to put Euro 6 now, right?
10:53Of course. Brazil is Euro 6.
10:55We are Euro 5.
10:57But, to be honest, an old truck
10:59pollutes 70 times more than a new one.
11:01So, we would have to get
11:03the old trucks out of circulation,
11:05pass them, for example, to a Euro 3 standard,
11:07which is less polluting.
11:09The Euro 3, Euro 5.
11:11And let's talk about Euro 6.
11:13Yes, but it's not really clear
11:15which energy is used.
11:17No, it's not clear.
11:19We brought an electric bus last July
11:21and we are working on it.
11:23Because, in some cities,
11:25we could do it.
11:27We have to invest in public infrastructure.
11:29Because it can't handle
11:31loading, I don't know, 100 buses,
11:33Malasaga, Condicionado, plus this studio.
11:35We are in doubt if we pass the summer.
11:37So, it's a public investment, we have to do it.
11:39Then, the private sector has to invest
11:41in special generators and suppliers.
11:43It's still a very high cost.
11:45I think...
11:47We are still far behind.
11:49Brazil is much ahead of us.
11:51Brazil is ahead.
11:53Again, with such an old park,
11:55it's utopian for me to think about
11:57that giant leap, which is still not clear.
11:59Let's get ready,
12:01cleaning the old stuff and leaving
12:03a cleaner park.
12:05Raúl, thank you very much.