Demand for trucks sustains automotive sector

The low interest rates and the strong demand for heavy vehicles amounted to 12.5% of the automotive industry's sales between January and May 2019 before the same period last year. This pulled production for 1.2 million units, high 5.3% according to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Anfavea). "What we have observed is that there is a tendency on the part of companies, especially in the transport segment, for the composition of their own fleet of heavy and semi vehicles, so as not to depend on outsourced companies," says the president of Entity, Luiz Carlos Moraes. In addition, the interest rate for car financing has assisted sales, according to the executive. According to Anfavea data, accumulated in the year until May before 2018, the growth in the sale of trucks was 48.5%, pulling the good performance of the sector. In May alone, the production rose 51.2% before the same month of 2018. "The good result was also influenced by the truckers ' strike last year, in addition to the weak base of comparison in the previous period," he says. The leader, however, points out that the 11% growth forecast should be revised due to the decline in exports. According to Moraes, one of the biggest challenges of this year is in the severe recession in Argentina. The escalation of the Argentine crisis was crucial for the 30% retraction of vehicle exports to the neighbor in May 2019 in relation to the same period of the previous year. "Faced with the deteriorated economy, a tendency to freeze prices, high interest rates and the commitment made by the Argentine Government to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), we should seek export also to other markets with potential such as Mexico and Colombia, "says Moraes. In addition, he recalls that the Argentine market was responsible for 76% of the external sales of Brazilian vehicles. Currently, this percentage fell to about 59%. According to Moraes, while Argentine participation in Brazilian exports decreases, other markets expand Brazil's purchases from last year to 2019. "Mexico's participation in exports has gone from 7% to 13% in the period; And Colombia went from 3% to 9% ", complemented the leader, noting that categories such as trucks and buses should boost the movement for the coming years. According to the report released by Anfavea, the export of trucks fell 58.3% between January and May 2019 over the same period of the previous year – the equivalent of 7000 units less. For the researcher of the Brazilian Institute of Economics of Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV-IBRE), Luana Miranda, the external sales of Brazilian vehicles has been experiencing falls in the last 13 months and should not have positive results in the short term, even with the effort Market diversification. "Last year, there was a truckers strike along with the start of the crisis in Argentina. This makes the entire production chain disorganized and has negative impacts in the long term, "argues the researcher. Questioned about the results of the internal market, she says that the weak basis of comparison of the last periods helped in this balance and that this panorama can be considered positive. For the specialist, this is the first step for the sector to recover the accumulated losses in sales in the last annual periods.