Vehicle sales up 22.1% in March, industry says no reason to celebrate

The sales of new vehicles in the domestic market rose 22.1% in March against February, but showed a 23.6% reduction compared with March last year. In the quarter, the plunge totals 28.6%. Figures comprise the whole country. Some 179.1 thousand vehicles were traded last year, with production rising at a higher pace (42.6%) than exports. In March, 195.3 thousand vehicles were manufactured.

However, when compared with the same period last year, the contraction stands at 23.7%, and at 27.8% for the three-month period in 2016.

The data were released Wednesday (Apr. 6) by ANFAVEA the national association of auto makers.

Crisis

ANFAVEA President Luiz Moan said that the growth in the domestic demand does not signal a “recovery, and reflects the aggravation of the political crisis.” He says that, on the days on which the demonstrations were staged across the country, some car dealers got no visitors. Moan believes it is too early to predict how the market is going to behave in the next months. In his view, the increased output should not be viewed as a recovery. “The quarter we're in is the worst since 2006, so there's no reason to celebrate.”

The executive announced that a mere 51.4% of business was on credit, the lowest level for financing in the last 14 years, which shows lack of confidence among consumers.

Exports also improved compared with February—outbound units rose 0.2%, but slid 7.7% compared with March 2015, and 7.6% for the quarter. Year-to-date, external sales added up to $2.2 billion.

The poor performance of auto makers based in the country was also reflected in job cuts. The data from ANFAVEA reveal that employment dropped 1.1%, going from 129,862 workers in February to 128,477 in March.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira