During the first 10 months of 2023, Brazilian On Highway Vehicle production faced challenges, with an increase in imports of approximately 58,000 units from January to October and a simultaneous drop in exports by more than 52,000 vehicles. The outcome was a stagnation in production, as only 1,950,000 passenger cars, Minivans and SUVs, light commercial vehicles, trucks, and bus chassis were produced. This marked a decrease of 0.6%, equivalent to almost 12,000 vehicles, compared to the same period in 2022, as reported by Anfavea on Nov. 8, 2023.
Only in October, 199,800vehicles were produced, reflecting a 3.1% decrease year-on-year and a 4.4% drop month-on-month. Despite this, the inventory level remained relatively stable, closing at 263,400 units in the yards of automakers and dealerships, compared to 265,700 in September.
The rise in imports coupled with a decline in exports has raised concerns at Anfavea regarding the competitiveness of Brazilian products in the regional market. Although Brazil has seen an increase in exports to Mexico and Uruguay, it has been losing ground in traditional markets such as Chile, Argentina, and Colombia.
Source: Autodata Read The Article
PSR Analysis: The ones who follow our publication and access our databases know the losses in Chile, Argentina and Colombia are caused by the market conditions in these countries and are not caused only by the lack of competitiveness of Brazilian products. On the other hand, the high end imported vehicles in Brazil are always knocking at the door waiting for the smallest opportunity to increase sales. With exchange rate fluctuation and aggressiveness of companies like BYD, improved the scenario to permit the import growth in 2023. PSR
Fabio Ferraresi is Director, Business Development South America, for Power Systems Research
