Brazil discusses ways to reinvigorate auto industry

Industry and Foreign Commerce Minister Marcos Pereira said today (Aug. 16) that the federal government is working to devise a strategy to bring auto sales in the domestic market back on track as a means to boost production in the industry and ensure employment stability.

The idea, brought under debate last week alongside 19 associations in the sector, is to stimulate the creation of a new fleet, Pereira says. To meet this goal, financial agents are being contacted, public banks included. The minister pledged his commitment with the National Association of Auto Manufacturers (ANFAVEA) to have the project completed by the end of the year.

“The government is working to improve Brazil's business environment, and I'm intent on breaking bureaucratic shackles,” he declared, while mentioning figures from the Doing Business 2016 ranking, of the World Bank Group, on which Brazil appears in the 116th place among the 189 countries with a chance of good business.

The minister spoke today (16) during the speech he delivered at the opening ceremony of a congress promoted by the National Federation for the Distribution of Auto Vehicles (FENABRAVE), in São Paulo.

ANFAVEA

ANFAVEA President Antonio Megale, also present at the meeting, showed optimism towards an economic recovery. “In 2017, we'll be in a more robust situation, and we'll be able to return to the fifth place in the global market,” he argued. He noted that a decline of nearly 25% was reported in car sales in the January-July period, adding that the auto industry is facing an idle capacity of 50%, with as much as 75% observed in the production of trucks.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira