Many new cars and trucks are hard to find in the U.S. these days, but they’re even more scarce in Chile, where a red-hot economy has created waits of more than a year for some popular models. One of the toughest nameplates to get is the Chevrolet Silverado. The current estimated delivery date for a diesel Silverado is October 2022, according to Bloomberg.
Chileans began snapping up vehicles, appliances and electronics after the government injected $49 billion into the economy by allowing early withdrawals from private pension funds established under former dictator Augusto Pinochet.
Cash payouts during the coronavirus pandemic have fueled demand even more.
“The money came in and then people started to buy cars like crazy,” said Carol Castillo, a saleswoman at a Chevrolet dealership in downtown Santiago.
Chile’s coronavirus vaccination rate, near 75 percent, is the highest in all the Americas, providing yet another lift to the economy as infections decline. New-vehicle sales nearly doubled in August from a year ago.
Castillo has been swamped setting up test drives, haggling over prices and trying not to disappoint customers who learn there’s a long wait for the model they want. She was able to help one recent patron, a working-class man in his late 30s who spent years saving enough money to buy his own vehicle.
“He got so emotional that he cried,” she said. “He was finally able to purchase his first car.”