Hyundai and Toyota lead growth

Brands that have launched the compact car segment, the largest in the country, Hyundai and Toyota are most automakers take advantage of the strength of the Brazilian automobile market this year. In a period in which the industry is evolving at a rate of almost 9%, reaching 1.4 million cars got their plates between January and may, the two manufacturers of Asian origin are able to double sales in the country (see table beside).
The common point between them is that both came almost at the same time in Brazil's most popular market with the production of compact models in the State of São Paulo. First, in August last year, Toyota inaugurated the factory in Sorocaba Etios, model that today accounts for 37% of sales. A month later, Hyundai began manufacturing in Piracicaba the HB20-the fourth best-selling car in the country.
In the two brands, a strategy meant to expand the range, before more geared to a well-heeled audience, to capture the rise of the middle class and the inflection of consumption towards more equipped vehicles.
Also in both cases, the result was a jump in sales. Milad Kalume Neto, Jet Dynamics consulting specialist, says that, since released the HB20, seven months, Hyundai's volumes rose 99.2%. Toyota already had growth of 51.9% with the Etios.
"Are undoubtedly representative values and showing the taste of Brazilians by launches," says the analyst. "The launch of vehicles in a new segment of the premium type cars, is the bet of the two brands, which already have image from premium markets," adds Kalume Neto.
Hyundai, which last year lost market with the sobretaxação the imported cars, has reached new heights with the HB20. In 2013, the Korean automaker has doubled to 6% market share, occupying the fifth place among the biggest brands. The figures include vehicles imported or produced by started its partner in Goiás. The Piracicaba plant uses all the capacity installed since the official opening in November, and a third work shift will have to be started in September.
Toyota, for its part, is still not using all the factory in Sorocaba, capacity of 70 thousand cars per year. But the volume added by Etios allowed offset a slight contraction in sales of the Corolla sedan and put the automaker in seventh position in the ranking of brands. The Japanese automaker, which ended with 2012 just over 3% of the market for cars and light commercial, raised this slice to 4.7%.
The arrival of new groups to play popular segments of the automotive market begins to produce a new car sales distribution in the country, whose most noticeable result is the lowest concentration in the four most traditional automakers. Ten years ago, Fiat, Volkswagen, General Motors and Ford together accounted for over 83% of sales-that is, only one in five cars sold in Brazil was not of any of these brands. But this participation fell to 70.8% in 2012 and is in 68.4%, this year.
What changed was that Brazil, with its growing demand for engines, became the target of international automakers in the search for markets less affected by crises in Europe and the United States. In the last decade, more than tripled the number of brands that compete for sales of vehicles in the Brazilian automotive market, which became the fourth largest in the world. In the same period, the number of models offered has grown by more than five times.
The change in the competitive environment has an impact on the numbers of major brands. Of the four automakers of industry front, only Fiat, with a high of 10.4%, grows more than the market average. Volkswagen is the one that performs more shy in this group: high on plates issued 1.6% was in the first five months of the year.
But even with the expansion of consumption that is renewing the record sales of cars, not all automakers are able to improve their numbers. The JAC Motors and Chinese Chery, Korean Kia, more lost space with government restrictions to imported cars.
Renault and Nissan-which, along with the Honda, were those which grew more last year – is, in 2013, among the brands which lose sales. The Renault drop is justified by two months to stop the work to expand the company's factory in Parana. Nissan was already affected by import quotas of Mexico, where about 70% of brings a car that sells in the Brazilian market.
Peugeot had already lost space last year and follows in fall this year. Until may, the brand fell 13.9% plates issued, compared to the same period in 2012. The French carmaker justifies the result to stop in February, factory production in the province of Buenos Aires, where it is manufactured the 308, one of the best selling models in Brazil.