São Paulo – Automobile exports from Brazil were up 48.1% year-on-year in April, the National Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association (Anfavea) reported this Friday (5). In the first four months of the year, exports were up 64.2% to 232,200 units shipped abroad, the best result on record for the period.
“Exports keep going strong. It was the best four-month period in history. For every three cars made, two get sold domestically and one gets exported. This stems from a joint effort by the companies, but also from improvements in trade agreements with other countries,” said Anfavea president Antonio Megale.
Auto sales in Brazil, however, slid 3.7% from April 2016 to 156,900 units. “The trend is towards stability, but we aren’t quite there yet,” said Megale.
Year-to-date through April, automobile sales were down 2.4% from a year ago, although production increased by 20.9%.
According to Megale, industry sales are expected to improve in months to come. “We believe that May will be an important month when it comes to results, due to the fact that it will have more business days.”
Truck sales also slid in April, by 17.4% to 3,500 units sold. Anfavea vice president Luis Carlos Gomes de Moraes said the poor result is a direct consequence of the country’s economic woes. “The industry hinges on GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and the government is giving out signs that the second half will be better. We are also relying on an increase in infrastructure investments.”
Domestic sales of agricultural and earth-moving machinery grew by 14.3% year-on-year in April. “Although there were good results and significant growth year-to-date, we are yet to match the average from the past few years,” Megale remarked. “But the outlook is good, considering the excellent crop that we are having,” the Anfavea president asserted.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum