Holy Moses! Even Brazil Beats USA!

Marcelo de Vasconcellos
by Marcelo de Vasconcellos

Brazil beats America! Over at well-known Brazilian communications giant Globo, they are reporting that little ole Brazil has overcome big ole USA in car production and has taken 5th place worldwide. Can this be true? It depends on how you look at the numbers…

With a total production of 2,576,628 passenger cars in 2009, Brazil took the #5 rank, leaving the US (which produced 2,249,061) in the #6 slot. America’s weak number can be blamed on the crisis, its dependence on truck and SUV sales, and the fact that a lot of the “American” cars are made in Mexico or Canada. Most of all, the crummy showing can be blamed on the fact that these are production statistics. A country that imports a lot looks bad on that list. Countries like Japan, Germany, or South Korea, which had an anemic home market, but export a lot, look better on the list than back home. Trucks, SUVs and minivans count in most countries as “commercial” vehicles. The U.S.A. had to invent the “light vehicle” category to avoid looking like a third world country.

According to Anfavea (the Brazilian car makers association) this production number, though record, is just the beginning. Brazil already is the world’s 4th largest consumer of cars. There are a lot of people in Brazil without cars. There is a lot of room to grow.

Some numbers for your perusing pleasure. (All as per OICA – International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers – they can be sorted by clicking the column header.)

Total production of passenger cars in 2009

1 –China10.383.8312 –Japan6.862.1613 –Germany4.964.5234 –South Korea3.158.4175 –Brazil2.576.6286 –USA2.249.061

Total production of “commercial” vehicles in 2009:

1 –USA3.462.7622 –China3.407.1633 –Japan1.072.3554 –Canada667.2885 –Thailand663.0556 –Mexico617.8217 –Brazil605.989

Combined production number of motor vehicles in 2009:

1 –China13.790.9942 –Japan7.934.5163 –USA5.711.8234 –Germany5.209.8575 –South Korea3.512.9266 –Brazil3.182.617
Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 8 comments
  • Kwik_Shift It was an annoying feature on my 2018 Nissan Sentra SV. Bugs, leaves and snow would disable it. Should have been a better design .
  • Master Baiter A regulator's job is never done, so yeah, bring on the next level of regulations.
  • DedBull The automatic braking system in my wife's 2019 Tiguan is easily defeated by the slightest amount of solid precipitation, which is not uncommon here in western Pennsylvania. Fortunately we have regular speed-holding cruise control, because the active cruise control uses the same sensor and becomes inactive in the same conditions. It was infuriating in our loaner. I've had a few false-positives over the years, plus a couple where it didn't like my rate of deceleration. Interestingly it did not intervene at all when I had a deer strike a couple years ago. I don't mind the application of the tech, but I think they are setting a pretty high bar going forward. I'm also cautious of over-reliance on tech in vehicles.
  • FreedMike The AEB system on my car has actually engaged only once in the two years I've owned it, mainly because I actually pay attention. But not everyone does...thus, this proposal. If everyone was as diligent as I am, I'd say there's no need, but we all know how that movie ends.if it keeps some moron in a Tahoe who's busy f**king around on TikTok from laying waste to my car from behind, I'm all for it.
  • Lou_BC I've seen photo's of plates that spell "azzhole" when viewed in the rear view mirror. There was a fellow in Canada who's last name was "Grabher". They wouldn't let him have that plate.
Next