May brought relief to the automotive sector, with a significant increase in registrations in relation to April. The explanations are in the purchase movement made by the rental companies, in the end of the wait for the reduction of the IPI (Tax on Industrialized Products) and in the more regular supply of semiconductors.
The 187,064 light and heavy vehicles registered in the last month represent an increase of 27% over April. After skating in the range of 7,000 licenses, the average sales was 8,503 units/day.
The numbers are based on Renavan (National Registry of Motor Vehicles) and include passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, buses and trucks.
In relation to May of last year, there was a 0.9% drop in licensing, which indicates stability and interrupts a sequence of negative comparisons between the same months of 2021 and 2022.
The accumulated for the year, however, shows that 2022 is being a difficult year. The accumulated drop in the first five months is 17%, and the combination of high interest rates with more expensive cars will put a brake on trade throughout the second half of the year.
For automakers, any growth should be celebrated.
“I would say that it was a month that clearly fills us with hope, so that we can start a more favorable period for the industry”, says Herlander Zola, Fiat’s vice president in South America. The brand continues in the lead with the Strada pickup, which had 11,532 units licensed in May.
Second place in sales was occupied by the Hyundai HB20 (9,634), followed by Fiat Mobi (7,493), Chevrolet Onix (6,982) and Volkswagen Gol (6,980).
The presence of five compact cars among the best sellers confirms that the rental companies had a great influence on the result. With aging fleets and growing demand, these companies went shopping at the beginning and end of the month.
Localiza, for example, started offering cars for immediate delivery in the plans of Meoo, a division that takes care of long-term leasing.
As with “individual” consumers, rental companies held back part of their purchases in April in the expectation of benefiting from a new round of IPI reduction. The measure, however, did not include passenger cars. As there was damming in the previous month, negotiations advanced in May.
But the problems are not solved. Although there has been an improvement in supply in the last two months, Zola says that there are models with a queue for lack of semiconductors, such as some versions of the Strada and the compact SUV Pulse.
The problem is also felt by other brands, which are planning new collective vacation periods. Normalization should only occur throughout 2023.
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