Brazil Goes Gaga Over Imports

Marcelo de Vasconcellos
by Marcelo de Vasconcellos

There seems to be no end for the good news for German (and assorted Asian) companies. Paulo Kakinoff, president of Audi do Brasil, declared to Brazilian car enthusiast site Webmotors that “logistics for importing motor vehicles is overburdened and factories abroad cannot serve all markets”. José Luiz Gandini, president of Kia do Brasil and Abeiva (Association of Car Importing Companies) said to said site: “It’s common for the customer to wait 60 days for a car.”

Brazil suddenly sounds like China. Imports skyrocketed 175.3 percent for the first 6 months of the year. In absolute numbers, that’s 41.8 thousand cars (both numbers courtesy of Brazilian car rag Auto Esporte’s site).

Reasons and reasonings for this abound. Despite the high initial purchasing costs and lingering worries over availability and prices for parts, the real and dollar relationship has been pretty stable (hovering at or around R$1.8=US$1.0). I would also speculate that with their newfound wealth, Brazilians are letting loose and are buying some flair and luxury, not to mention a break, from the doldrum offerings of the so called “domestic” Big 4 (Fiat, VW, GM and Ford).

So, wake up call for the Big Brazilian 4 Gang. Spice it up boys! Keyless entry, moonroofs, backup sensors are now priorities for many buyers. You need to bring your game up or you’ll continue to lose market share.

Marcelo de Vasconcellos
Marcelo de Vasconcellos

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  • Stingray Stingray on Jul 21, 2010

    Marcelo, I read last week in Brazil's GM site that the Omega is not available and when new imports arrived they would announce availability. Or something like that.

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    • Stingray Stingray on Jul 21, 2010

      I'm following Down Under's news and yes, an updated Commodore (Omega is a version over there) is on the way. I read about it today, but don't remember when it's coming. I know for sure that I want a yellow V8 Commodore... and I'll get it :)

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