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Rappi, Netflix, and the Fall of the Tsuru
Welcome to Latinometrics, especially to the new subscribers who signed up last week. We bring you Latin American insights and trends through concise, thought-provoking data visualizations. It’s great to have you on board.
Today’s charts:
Rappi‘s growth during Covid
Netflix’s penetration in Latin America
Nissan’s Versa has replaced the Tsuru
We’ve also included the comment of the week at the bottom.
Gig Economy 🎒
After the first months of the pandemic, many companies were forced to shut down their operations. However, sales of Rappi’s delivery service and demand for food delivery both grew substantially in Latin America. The App experienced massive growth of 113% during the first five months of 2020.
The startup was founded in 2015 by Felipe Villamarin, Sebastián Mejía, and Simón Borrero, three Colombian entrepreneurs. Rappi entered a software development accelerator program called Y Combinator in 2016, receiving investment funding and In August 2018, the founders raised an additional $200 million. SoftBank also became a major stakeholder in the company in April 2019. Their Rappid growth has allowed the company to expand its operations across several Latin American countries and improve its product faster than other competitors in the area, becoming one of LatAm’s unicorns in the process.
Rappi is quickly becoming the first Super App of Latin America. It has partnered with Banorte in Mexico and with Interbank in Peru to release debit and credit cards powered by Visa. Its Visa partnership also extends to Colombia and Brazil. As the App learns more about consumer habits, it can offer better products and credit to users. “It creates a virtuous cycle, as extending loans to users and partners means more deals within the app,” RappiBank CEO João Paulo Félix said a few months ago.
Streaming 📺
What goes into Netflix’s recipe for success? Many things, including paying employees a lot, having a strong company culture, and expanding aggressively into 190 international markets.
Latin America is only one portion of Netflix’s massive international expansion plan. By going all-in on content production in the region, the streaming service has entered the homes of millions of Latin Americans.
The first-ever original show in Spanish was Club de Cuervos in 2015. Since then, Netflix has produced 63 series and 87 movies for the Spanish/Portuguese-speaking population. Their shows and films often attract Latin America’s most famous actors and directors, like Wagner Moura, Diego Luna, and Kate del Castillo, to name a few.
Today, Netflix has offices in Madrid, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, and Mexico City. Under VP of international content, Francisco Ramos, the company’s original shows and movies for the area have also become popular worldwide. For example, Narcos: Mexico has remained in Canada’s top 10 for four weeks in a row. The streaming giant’s early bet on international markets is likely to pay off as newer platforms like Disney+, HBO Max, and Prime Video try to keep up.
Auto Industry 🚗
If you’ve ever been to Mexico City, you have likely ridden in a taxi like this one. You also probably did not know that that car, a Nissan Tsuru, had a zero-star safety rating.
The first Tsuru was made in the 80s in the Mexican city of Cuernavaca. After producing 2.4 million units with no significant changes to its design and build, Nissan stopped selling the Tsuru in 2018. This decision was unpopular with many Mexican car buyers, especially taxi drivers, because they appreciated its reliability and low price point (around $7,600). However, Nissan didn’t have a choice. The Tsuru suffered from a zero-star safety rating since it had no airbags or anti-lock braking system (ABS), and Mexico passed a law mandating that all cars for sale needed to include those two safety standards by 2019.
Reuters attributed the model to over 4,000 deaths in Mexico between 2007 and 2012. The Versa, which is now Nissan’s entry model vehicle, has become the best-selling car in Mexico during the last few years. However, millions of Tsuru cabs are still on the road, so avoid hopping into one next time you are in CDMX. For real, watch this video of both models crashing into each other; it might just save your life!
Thanks for reading. Until next week. 👋
Want more?
We saw great conversations around our Walmart and Gas Affordability charts (Reddit, LinkedIn). We heard from people that HEB and City Market (La Comer chain) have the best quality of products among Mexican supermarkets.
Here is the comment of the week, from Reddit:
Translation:
“Just as it has stores, Walmart has control power over its suppliers. I used to work at Sam’s Club, and on one occasion, Lala came in saying that they were going to raise the milk price. There were some disagreements, and the dispute rose the ranks to the directors who ultimately threatened [Lala], saying that if they rose prices, then Walmart, Bodega Aurrera, and Sam’s Club would stop being their customers.”
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