São Paulo – Automakers in Brazil produced 169,800 vehicles in April, down 13.6% from March and 22.9% from April 2015. Year-to-date through April, 658,750 units were made, down 25.8% from a year ago. The numbers were issued this Thursday (5th) by the National Motor Vehicle Distributors Association (Anfavea) and include automobiles, trucks, light commercial vehicles and buses.
New vehicle sales in Brazil dropped 27.9% year-to-date through April from a year ago, to 893,700 units sold.
In April alone, 162,900 vehicles were sold, down 9.1% from March and 25.7% from April 2015. Anfavea’s new chairman, Antonio Megale, noted that despite the slowdown, the rate of decline has decreased. At the start of the year, sales had shrunk by 38.8%.
The executive pointed out that truck sales went down the most, at 13.2% in April from March and 31% year-to-date. However, Megale believes in a rebound driven by exports and the restoration of confidence in the agribusiness industry, following the government’s announcement of new conditions for financing the new crop.
The Anfavea chairman conceded that the government has played a relevant role in efforts to boost exports in general. According to him, bilateral agreements entered into with Uruguay, Peru, Colombia and African countries are surfacing as alternatives to compensate weak domestic sales.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
