Brazil In May: Sales Slide 9.66 Percent. Or Gain 1.64

by Marcelo de Vasconcellos

Published: June 3rd, 2010

brazil in may sales slide 9 66 percent or gain 1 64

The first numbers are out for May. Sales of new cars dropped 9.66 percent in relation to April. Why? This is the first month in which the full effect of the end of the incentive program was felt. Many dealers however kept up incentive pricing avoiding the 20% drop I had predicted. All is not lost though.

The Brazilians have not forsaken their cars. Comparing May 2010 to May 2009, there was actually a gain of 1.64 percent! For the first five months, Brazilian car sales were 1,316,824 vehicles, up 14.26 percent over the same period in 2009, reports Brazil’s second largest newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, citing Fenabrave (Brazilian Distributors Federation). So, the year is still on track for setting the best-ever sales record.

The first numbers for May also reveal some surprises in terms of brands. Fiat still tops the charts at 23.31 percent, with VW right behind them at 23.02 percent of the market. It seems like the new Uno is still not gaining conquest sales from VeeDub. General Motors dropped slightly to a 19.74 percent share, while Ford had a bad month with a participation of only 8.48 percent (the new old Fiesta is, for now, a flop).

Hyundai though is creating quite a stir. They leap-frogged Renault, Toyota, Honda and the PSA twin and captured fifth place! In numbers, they got 3.72 percent of total sales.

As for the first five months of the year, no changes yet, though Hyundai’s strong showing in May means that the fifth spot will be hotly contested. Maybe even Ford will feel the heat. Anyway, Fiat leads by a hair with 22.54 percent, Volkswagen is breathing down their necks with 20.94 percent, and General Motors seems stuck in third with 20.28 percent. Ford is far from the leaders at 10.39 percent while Renault is holding on for dear life at fifth with 4.39 percent.

#Brazil #MarceloDeVasconcellos #SalesMay2010

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Stingray on Jun 03, 2010

AFAIK Honda and Toyota have factories there. I don't know if Hyundai, but if they're climbing the charts, it is possible. Toyota also has a factory in Argentina, and Honda in working on one. If I'm not wrong, those cars can enter Brazil without high tariffs due to Mercosur agreements. Of course, it's Marcelo who should confirm or correct. Glad to read from you again.

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- Marcelo de Vasconcellos on Jun 03, 2010
  
  Stingray, as usuall you are correct. Due to Mercosur, Ford imports the Ranger and Focus from Argentina, VW the Amarok, Toyota the Hilux. AFAIK Honda's plant in Argentina has been suspended. Not to mention some Chinese cars brought in as EFFA (from a CKD assembly line in Uruguay) I thinh they are Chanqua (???). Other cars imported without high tariffs come from Mexico (due to the free trade agreement), Ford the Fusion, Chevy the Malibu, VW the new Beeetle, Jetta, Bora, Nissan the Tiida (or Versa??), Chrysler the PT Cruiser probably among others I forget. Outside this universe anybody who wants to import cars to the country can. And imported cars pay 35% tarrif.
  
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- Stingray on Jun 03, 2010
  
  I read that Chery was the one being installed in Uruguay
  
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- Marcelo de Vasconcellos on Jun 03, 2010
  
  Chery, aqgain, as far as I know, is doing the rounds, romancinzing the various governments (Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay not to mention Brazilian state governments, who also have the financial werewithal) to see who gives them more. As to a CKD line in Uruguay, they may as well have one. I did hear of something like that. Don't know if they went ahead with it thoug, as both Argentina and Brazil strongly oppose this kind of assembly in Mercosur. Uruguay accepts it, but must resist the pressure from its (much) stronger partners.
  
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Marcosbarauskas on Jun 06, 2010

There's also Nissan, which makes Frontier trucks and Livinas in Parana, along with Renault.

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