Brazil: New car sales fall and motorcycles gain ground

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – April ended as another month of falling sales of new vehicles in Brazil. According to the balance sheet released on May 3 by Fenabrave, the association of dealers, 136,341 cars and light commercials were sold throughout the country. The number is 16.8% lower than the one registered in the same period in 2021, when 163,867 units were sold.

In the year to date, the drop in sales is 22.8%. Between January and April, 510,846 units were sold, about 150,000 less than last year’s first four months. If the pace is maintained, 2022 may end with sales of two million vehicles.

As a relief, the April result was better than that of March. But the increase was not very significant, 1.1%. It is necessary to consider that April had two long holidays.

MOTORCYCLES CONQUER SPACE

If the sale of cars and light commercials is dropping, the motorcycle market is celebrating good results. In all, 107,737 motorcycles were sold. The number is lower than the one registered in March but represents an increase of 13.8% compared to April 2021.

Between January and April, 382,497 motorcycles were sold – 27.4% more than in the same four-month period last year.

Thus, the participation of motorcycles in the Brazilian market has grown and is now close to that of cars and light commercials. They currently represent 38.4% of sales, against 41.1% for four-wheeled vehicles.

As a comparison, in 2021, the percentages were 28% and 49.2%, respectively.

BRANDS AND MODELS

In April, the Fiat Strada was the best-selling vehicle in Brazil. The compact pickup had 7,983 units sold, increasing its accumulated leadership. The Hyundai HB20 took the lead with 6,502 units sold among passenger cars. The model is being prepared for a restyling and has already been seen running in tests in Sergipe State.

Among the brands, Fiat continues to dominate the Brazilian market. Five of the ten best-selling models were from the Italian brand in April. Besides the leader Strada, Mobi, Pulse, Argo, and Toro were also in the ranking.

Volkswagen (VW), facing production problems in its factories, placed only the T-Cross in the top 10. The compact SUV was the tenth-placed. Thus, VW remains outside the symbolic podium of the most popular manufacturers in Brazil.

From January to April, Fiat led with a 22.2% share, followed by Chevrolet (14%), Toyota (11.1%), Hyundai (10.7%), and Volkswagen (9.2%).