Brazil in May 2010: Top Selling Cars and Makes

Marcelo de Vasconcellos
by Marcelo de Vasconcellos

As reported earlier, sales in Brazil in May were a mixed bag. Compared to April, sales slid 9.6 percent (from 278,000 vehicles in April, to 251,000 last month). However, on a year to year basis, sales managed an improvement of 1.7 percent over May 2009. The first five months of 2010 are still going at a record-breaking, best-ever pace (according to Brazilian enthusiast site bestcars.com.br). With the end of incentives clearly causing strain, the question is: How long?

Brazil Manufacturers ranked by sales
May 2010RankManufacturerUnits soldMarket Share1Fiat54.95223.3%2Volkswagen54.38423.1%3Chevrolet46.53219.7%4Ford19.9748.5%5Hyundai8.7623.7%6Honda8.4983.6%7Renault8.213.5%8Toyota7.8213.3%9Citroën5.9712.5%10Peugeot5.9572.5%

As to makers, there was as a major shake-up. Hyundai consolidated itself in fifth place. Renault, the traditional 5th place holder in the Brazilian market, saw not only the Koreans slipping by, but were caught with their pants down and also let Honda overtake them . Au revoir Renault?

Brazil Best Selling CarsRankMakeMay SalesApril Sales1VW Gol24,23622,1752Fiat Uno14,16413,0833Chevy Corsa Sedan11,37710,4924VW Fox/CrossFox10,67112,6035Fiat Palio10,44813,3816Chevy Celta9,40411,5457Fiat Strada9,1049,0378Fiat Siena8,44110,8179VW Voyage5,9476,47310VW Saveiro5,6495,13711Ford Ka5,3097,63612Chevy Prisma4,4554,46513Chevy Agile4,4284,08414Ford Fiesta4,4016,94815Toyota Corolla4,3294,79016Chevy S103,5383,20917Renault Sandero3,4065,29218Fiat Punto3,1743,05119Citroën C33,1454,17120Chevy Montana3,1183,372

This time, I included not only the 10 best selling cars, but the 20 best (numbers from well-known car rag Quatro Rodas’ website). And I included their sales in April so that you, the B&B, can get your analyses on. There were some big winners and losers. Notice for example that Ford has exactly zero cars in the top 10. That must have hurt!

Marcelo de Vasconcellos
Marcelo de Vasconcellos

More by Marcelo de Vasconcellos

Comments
Join the conversation
3 of 7 comments
  • Carlos Villalobos Carlos Villalobos on Jun 13, 2010

    I think the problem Ford has with the Focus is the engine, too old and with it is not enough power. Here it is just one engine variant. In Europe they have what, like 5o 6 different engines? Hyundai offers 3 engines here, 2 gasoline and 1 diesel with different trims. F1? Not relevant to the real world, I prefer Le Mans racing. Go Audi!!!

    • Marcelo de Vasconcellos Marcelo de Vasconcellos on Jun 13, 2010

      I enjoy LeMans, too! The Focus gets here 2 engines. A 2.0 and a 1.6. The 1.6 at least is produced in BRazil and is part Ford's new small engine family called Siygma. Though in Brazil they sell the "basic" version of the engine. They took out all the (expensive0 go gast and save fuel technology like variable valve timing. In the shape it is it produces only 115 hp (if not mistaken). Slightly low for a modern 1.6. Ford says they will eventuall integrate such technologies to the engine overtime. I say the time is now Ford! You're at 8% of the market. How far down do you want to go? Hyundai as far as I know only offers a 1.6. But it's good for about 125hp. Much better than Ford. but it's not a "flex" engine. It takes only gasoline. So, that gives many people pause as it's generally cheaper to run cars on ethanol in Brazil (due to taxes).

  • Carlos Villalobos Carlos Villalobos on Jun 13, 2010

    115 Hp from a 1.6 liter engine? Not enough for a car that should haul a family and their stuff.

  • Lichtronamo Watch as the non-us based automakers shift more production to Mexico in the future.
  • 28-Cars-Later " Electrek recently dug around in Tesla’s online parts catalog and found that the windshield costs a whopping $1,900 to replace.To be fair, that’s around what a Mercedes S-Class or Rivian windshield costs, but the Tesla’s glass is unique because of its shape. It’s also worth noting that most insurance plans have glass replacement options that can make the repair a low- or zero-cost issue. "Now I understand why my insurance is so high despite no claims for years and about 7,500 annual miles between three cars.
  • AMcA My theory is that that when the Big 3 gave away the store to the UAW in the last contract, there was a side deal in which the UAW promised to go after the non-organized transplant plants. Even the UAW understands that if the wage differential gets too high it's gonna kill the golden goose.
  • MKizzy Why else does range matter? Because in the EV advocate's dream scenario of a post-ICE future, the average multi-car household will find itself with more EVs in their garages and driveways than places to plug them in or the capacity to charge then all at once without significant electrical upgrades. Unless each vehicle has enough range to allow for multiple days without plugging in, fighting over charging access in multi-EV households will be right up there with finances for causes of domestic strife.
  • 28-Cars-Later WSJ blurb in Think or Swim:Workers at Volkswagen's Tennessee factory voted to join the United Auto Workers, marking a historic win for the 89- year-old union that is seeking to expand where it has struggled before, with foreign-owned factories in the South.The vote is a breakthrough for the UAW, whose membership has shrunk by about three-quarters since the 1970s, to less than 400,000 workers last year.UAW leaders have hitched their growth ambitions to organizing nonunion auto factories, many of which are in southern states where the Detroit-based labor group has failed several times and antiunion sentiment abounds."People are ready for change," said Kelcey Smith, 48, who has worked in the VW plant's paint shop for about a year, after leaving his job at an Amazon.com warehouse in town. "We look forward to making history and bringing change throughout the entire South."   ...Start the clock on a Chattanooga shutdown.
Next