Building and selling cars in the wide-ranging markets of Latin America never has been easy.

There’s almost always volatility, both politically and economically. And like the weather, the business climate can change in a snap. While there are routinely high expectations for growth, targets often go unmet – or prove unsustainable.

“This is Latin America,” says Pablo Di Si, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group’s South American Region. “Today is one way, tomorrow it can be another way.”

Further clouding the picture is how the megatrends that are shaking the very foundations of the auto industry worldwide will impact the region.

What will the Latin American auto industry look like five years from now? Will the still-emerging market’s promise finally come to fruition? Will the big drivers of electrification, autonomy, mobility and connectivity shaping strategies in China, Europe and the U.S. take hold here too, or will the region continue to run several steps behind the rest of the world?