Automotive industry: production and exports slowed the monthly rebound and fell in September

The automotive industry stopped the rebound it had been showing and in September it showed falls monthly both in terms of production and exports. Likewise, the weight of national cars in sales to dealers decreased sharply.

According to a report from the Automotive Manufacturers Association (ADEFA), in the ninth month of the year, 49,611 vehicleswhich involved a down 3.9% compared to August and the first negative variation since June. Still, it was the second highest figure of 2024.

At the same time, sales abroad fell 2.6% monthly to 31,918 units, while wholesale sales of national vehicles sank by 8.8%, despite the fact that at an aggregate level sales rose 15%. Regarding the latter, Tomás Canosa, an economist at Fundar, pointed out that “there is a reduction in stocks by companies” and that the increase in imports is part of a strong attraction of investments by Brazil, not only from traditional terminals but also from China”.

It is worth noting that in June the activity of the automotive sector had suffered the effects of the floods in Porto Alegre, which caused paralysis in many plants. “What they explain to you is that in July there was a normalization of inputs and that activated a lot of production lines, then in August the variation was almost zero (in seasonally adjusted terms) and now in September it was -0.2%,” he explained. to this medium Gabriel Caamanoeconomist at consulting firm Ledesma y Outlier.

For its part, Tomas Canosa, economist from Fundar, maintained that the behavior of the sector is not too far from that of the manufacturing industry in general, which “has not finished reactivating.”

In year-on-year termsthe declines were 12.6% for the production, 10.2% for exports and 20.9% for sales of local products.

Regarding exports, the decrease was mainly explained by lower shipments to Chile, Colombia and Peruwhile sales increased Brazilwhich concentrated more than 70% of the total.

Likewise, the drop in vehicles was generated in the automobile segment, since in utilitarian an increase was verified.

Despite the monthly setbacks, Martin Zuppipresident of ADEFA, noted that, after the June bottom, “both production, exports and wholesale sales register a slow but sustained recovery that allows the fall of the accumulated ones to be reduced with respect to the projections made at the beginning of the year. anus”.

On the other hand, the manager stressed that “it is a positive sign for the terminals that increase the share of exports over production (8 percentage points in the annual accumulated compared to 2023), it is because it reconfirms the productive profile of the sector, positioning it as the first exporting industrial complex to the world.