Goodbye Gol and Uno – closing the “popular cars” cycle after 4 decades in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Responsible for introducing new technologies and with legions of fans, two of Brazil’s best-selling cars will cease to be produced after 40 years on the market. Icons Fiat Uno and Volkswagen Gol are the last “popular cars,” a segment that once accounted for 70% of automobile sales in the country.

Currently classified as “entry level cars,” the cheapest of each brand, their prices are no longer as attractive. Technologically outdated, they are unable to undergo improvements in safety and energy efficiency.

Next year, legislation will establish a lower emission index for new cars. In 2024, all cars will have to have stability control, an important safety item.

Volkswagen retired the Kombi camper van in 2013 for the same reason, at 56 years of age. The Gol, now 41 years old, is still the brand’s best seller (tied with the T-Cross), but does not have the same relevance it had in the 27 years it was market leader, between 1987 and 2014.

With 51,000 units sold this year – 67% for fleet owners – Gol is expected to retire in 2022. In turn, the Fiat Uno, first marketed in the early 1980’s, is expected to retire later this year. It sold 19,300 units – 97% to fleet owners.

GENERATION

“The Gol marked an era and was the consumption dream of many people, mainly the sport versions,” says Fernando Almeida, 52 years old, employee of an electric cable company in Curitiba (PR). When he was 18, his greatest fascination was the Gol GT, and later the GTI, the first Brazilian car with electronic injection.

Without money to buy what was then a luxury car, Almeida only realized his dream in 2004 when, with his finances stable, he began to acquire old versions of the first generation Gol and nowadays has a collection of 25 cars.

When the Gol was launched in 1980 there were few brands in the country; today there are several “and the models are very similar, which lessens the seduction it had at the time,” Almeida says.

Designed and developed in Brazil, it is Volkswagen’s most produced model in the region, with 8.6 million units. It had different versions, from the first “square” to the current one, derived from the 1994 model. It was the first car with electronic injection in the country and the first with a “flex” engine that uses both gasoline and ethanol.

According to Volkswagen Latin America CEO Pablo Di Si, the brand’s new entry car will be the Polo Track, which will come in 2023, a more stripped down version of the Polo. The cheapest Gol costs R$67,800 (US$12,100) and the Track will cost over R$70,000.

Di Si concedes that the challenge will be to position the brand’s image before people who are used to looking for a popular car. “We will have to learn to deal with that and explain clearly that changes are necessary because they guarantee drivers greater safety.”

POPULAR

The Uno is also Fiat’s all time best seller and had 4.3 million units produced. Its replacement is now on the market – the Mobi, which sold 62,000 units this year.

“The Uno is responsible for the motorization of many Brazilians,” says Bright Consulting’s Cassio Pagliarini. According to him, the two icons should be the last of great longevity. New vehicles do not stay on the market that long anymore.

Without the Uno and the Gol, there will be only two entry-level car models left, the Mobi and the Renault Kwid. What lies ahead are more sophisticated and more expensive vehicles. “You can no longer think of cars as simple; today’s models have much more technology,” says Luiz Carlos Moraes of ANFAVEA (automakers’ association).

Other models expected to be leaving the market soon are the Honda Fit and Civic; Fiat Siena and Doblò; VW Voyage and Saveiro; Chevrolet Onix Joy; and Renault Sandero and Logan.