Brazilian vehicle sales, which have steadily declined in recent years, are projected to stabilize in the last quarter of the year, the country´s vehicle manufacturer association projected.
While Anfavea, a Portuguese-language acronym for National Association of Automotive Vehicle Manufacturers, says numbers will remain low but not worsen, some dealerships expect even some improvement.
Anfavea is projecting that new vehicle registrations will decline 27.4 percent this year from last year while vehicle production will drop 23.2 percent over the same period as it revises projections downward.
Sales observed in during July and September are expected to continue through December.
“The level of confidence of consumers and investors continues significantly affected and this is reflected across all segments of the market,” Anfavea President Luiz Moan Yabiku Junior said.
All projections were lowered with the exception of exports, which are now projected to increase 12 percent from last year. The licensing of new vehicles fell 3.5 percent in September from the previous month with some 200,000 units. The cumulative levels of new registrations from January to September was 1.95 million vehicles, which is a 22.7 percent decline from the same period last year.
As for September production, manufacturers in the country produced a total of 174,200 units which was 19.5 percent below figures from the previous month and 42 percent lower compared with those from the same month a year ago, the association said. The cumulative production in January through September was 1.9 million units, which is 20.1 percent lower compared to 2.38 million units a year earlier, it said.
Exports of vehicles in September were 33,500 units, which was 3.2 percent lower than August but a 28.7 percent increase compared with September 2014. The cumulative exports in January-September amount to 293,400 units, 12.3 percent higher than the previous year.
The automobile dealer association Fenabrae (National Federation of Brazilian Automotive Vehicle Distribution) separately said in another statement that it anticipates a slight improvement in sales later this year.
“Some brands are making launchings and that may stimulate consumption especially of automobiles and light commercial” vehicles, Fenabrae President Alarico Assumpcao Junior said. According to Fenabrae´s count, the segment of automobiles and light commercial vehicles posted a 3.6 percent decline in September when 192,610 units were sold compared with August.
When compared with September of last year, the decline was 31.8 percent, Fenabrae said, with January to September cumulative sales of 1.88 million units.
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