Sale of SUVs exceeds for the first time the entry car consumption

The Brazilian market of vehicles arrived, in 2017, the a novel situation: selling SUVs, known by the acronym SUV, like back to consumers of higher income, exceeded for the first time the car consumption entry, which are among the cheapest and therefore are intended for customers of lower purchasing power.
From January to April this year, the SUVs reached 21.4 percent of the market, against 17.5% in same period in 2016, according to the Fenabrave, association representing the dealers. Four years ago, when they beat record vehicle sales in Brazil, this segment represented only 8.9%. The rent for your entry time, done the other way around. In 2012, the year of the record, had the largest market share, with 31.3% of the total. Today, the cumulative 2017, 20.7% are.
The turn began to draw in 2015, through two moves. On the other hand, high unemployment and the lowest credit offer by banks have reduced the chance of the poorest to obtain financing to purchase a car. On the other, the automakers, realizing that only the wealthiest would continue with purchasing power, concentrated its efforts in launching vehicles that could please this crowd, giving preference to SUVs.
The Jeep and Honda were both brands that came out in front. The first launched the Renegade and the second, the HR-V, both in the first half of 2015. With the unfavorable scenario to cheaper cars, the two SUVs arrived in December of that year in the list of the 10 best selling cars. To give you an idea, in 2012, the best-selling SUV in the market that year, the Duster, of Renault, was 16th in the general ranking.
With the success, other automakers have been on a roll, with the intention to ease the crisis. Nissan, for example, took advantage of the exhibition that was in the media as a sponsor of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August 2016, to launch the Kicks. Hyundai, which previously focused your strategy in family models HB20, now also works with Crete, SUV launched in January this year. "Is the desired segment," said the Broadcast, real-time news service of Grupo Estado, the Chief Marketing Officer of Hyundai in Brazil, Cassius Pagliarini.
Despite the SUVs being turned into the outlet for many of the automakers, these claim that the good performance was not enough to significantly reduce revenue losses caused by the drop in sales among the cheapest cars. "Even with the growth of this segment, in terms of higher added value, the production costs of SUVs are larger than other threads to ensure the differentials as sturdiness and versatility," said Honda, in a note.
The growth of this segment as total market participation, however, tends to lose strength in the next few months, if you confirm the expectation of the recovery of the economy and, consequently, the sale of cheaper cars. The decrease of unemployment and the expansion of credit, including that which occurs sparingly, should raise the incoming cars, taking back the space that was lost to the SUVs in the last 2 years. "Consumers who enter '' below '' will be back," said Pagliarini. "But that doesn''t mean that the SUVs will lose attractiveness," he pondered.