Brazil In June 2010: Flip Flopping

Marcelo de Vasconcellos
by Marcelo de Vasconcellos

In Brazil sales numbers are also coming in. See tables below. The story is the opposite of last month. This time around: month to month, good; year to year, bad. Flip flop!

In June, Brazilians bought a grand total of 250,984 vehicles. That’s good for an increase of 4.65 percent over May. Year on year though the picture is not as good as that number is 12.4 percent lower than June 2009. Analysts however are saying that the bad numbers is good, because it means the market has stabilized at a level that will guarantee a record year. According to the President of the national association of vehicle distributors, Fenabrave, Sérgio Reze, “the market is back to normal and the end of incentives has been absorbed”. It’s not the numbers. It’s how you look at them.

There are some big winners in June. Namely one. Can you guess who?

That’s right. As predicted by yours truly, the new Uno is giving VeeDub’s perennial market leader (over 20 years), the Gol, a run for its money. And it’s helping Fiat break away from VW in the fight for first place. All numbers provided by Auto Esporte.

Brazil’s Best Selling Cars, June 2010

RankMake / ModelJune SalesMay SalesYTD Sales1VW Gol22,17924,236131,8092Fiat Uno19,13014,16482,9883VW Fox/CrossFox11,85810,67166,0354Chevy Celta10,9509,40470,7805Chevy Corsa Sedan10,89111,37758,9176Fiat Palio10,06110,44873,5227Fiat Siena9,4918,44159,7778Fiat Strada9,3209,10451,7029Ford Fiesta6,0344,40139,92710Ford Ka5,5905,30942,423

Comments: The Uno is starting to put pressure on the leader Gol. First time the Uno draws blood from Gol. Flip flop in the near future? Fiat’s Palio (traditional runner-up) was the greatest loser when the Uno came out, but seems to have stabilized at a healthy level. If it continues at this mark, the Palio might finish the year in third (not too shabby considering the friendly fire). Chevy’s inclusions in the Top 10 go on doing their dance around the 10k pole. Meanwhile, Ford came back from the brink of the abyss and two of its cars knocked two of VW’s cars down to second league

As to makers, Fiat (thanks to Uno’s performance and Palio’s stabilization) is pulling away from VW. VW lost share this month (as evidenced by getting its Voyage and Saveiro kicked out of the Top 10). GM ran, ran and ran. And stayed in the same place. Ford showed recovery.

Big surprise again was Hyundai. This time negative. Flip flop! After taking 5th place last month, Hyundai skidded back to 7th. It managed however to outdo Toyota. Renault and Honda reclaimed their positions then by default, as they showed little growth.

Brazil’s Manufacturers Ranked by Sales and Market Share, June 2010

RankManufacturerUnits Sold June Market ShareUnits Sold MayMarket Share1Fiat60,16724,31%54.95223.3%2Volkswagen51,96520,70%54.38423.1%3Chevrolet49,03919,81%46.53219.7%4Ford24,7729,87%19.9748.5%5Renault9,9893.98%8,2103.5%6Honda9.5633.81%8,4983.6%7Hyundai7.9063.15%8,7623.7%8Toyota7.8813.14%7,8213.3%9Citroën6,8522.73%5,9712.5%10Peugeot5,5722.22%5,9572.5%
Marcelo de Vasconcellos
Marcelo de Vasconcellos

More by Marcelo de Vasconcellos

Comments
Join the conversation
  • TheEndlessEnigma Of course they should unionize. US based automotive production component production and auto assembly plants with unionized memberships produce the highest quality products in the automotive sector. Just look at the high quality products produced by GM, Ford and Chrysler!
  • Redapple2 Got cha. No big.
  • Theflyersfan The wheel and tire combo is tragic and the "M Stripe" has to go, but overall, this one is a keeper. Provided the mileage isn't 300,000 and the service records don't read like a horror novel, this could be one of the last (almost) unmodified E34s out there that isn't rotting in a barn. I can see this ad being taken down quickly due to someone taking the chance. Recently had some good finds here. Which means Monday, we'll see a 1999 Honda Civic with falling off body mods from Pep Boys, a rusted fart can, Honda Rot with bad paint, 400,000 miles, and a biohazard interior, all for the unrealistic price of $10,000.
  • Theflyersfan Expect a press report about an expansion of VW's Mexican plant any day now. I'm all for worker's rights to get the best (and fair) wages and benefits possible, but didn't VW, and for that matter many of the Asian and European carmaker plants in the south, already have as good of, if not better wages already? This can drive a wedge in those plants and this might be a case of be careful what you wish for.
  • Jkross22 When I think about products that I buy that are of the highest quality or are of great value, I have no idea if they are made as a whole or in parts by unionized employees. As a customer, that's really all I care about. When I think about services I receive from unionized and non-unionized employees, it varies from C- to F levels of service. Will unionizing make the cars better or worse?
Next