São Paulo – Brazilian imports of vehicles dropped 23% from January to June 2013, in comparison with the same period last year. In the first half of the year, some 54,506 foreign vehicles were licensed in the country, as against 70,963 in the same period last year, according to a balance sheet disclosed by the Brazilian Association of Motor Vehicle Importers (Abeiva).
In June, licensing of imported vehicles dropped 14.2%, with 9,606 vehicles sold, as against 11,119 in the same month last year. “Last year the first half was stronger due to the units that were imported in 2011, free from the IPI (Industrialized Product Tax), and they migrated to 2012,” said Abeiva president Flávio Padovan.
The figures also shows that carmakers installed in Brazil traded 274,144 imported units in the first six months of the year, 14.2% less than the 319,616 units recorded in the same period in 2012.
Padovan explained that, early this year, the organisation had forecasted that 150,000 units would be imported, 25% less than in 2012, but on analysing the figures for the first half, the forecast has been cut to 120,000. “We will not manage to reach the 150,000 vehicles and reaching 120,000 will also depend much on the behaviour in the first half. July tends to be a difficult month due to school holidays, but we believe that starting in August the market should start recovering and reach the average of 10,000 cars a month,” he projected.
*Translated by Mark Ament
