The production of light and heavy vehicles closed the first quarter with 311,400 units produced, which represents a drop of 21.7% compared to the same period in 2021. The result depicts the effect of the ômicron variant on production lines , associated with the collective holidays in January, the irregular supply of parts and the slowdown in sales at the beginning of the year.
In the comparison between the months of February, the fall is of 15.8%. The data were released this Tuesday (8) by Anfavea (association of automakers).
Although the return of employees to the production lines in the last month has led to an improvement in the production scale, with 165,900 units assembled and an increase of 14.1% over January, the scenario is still not encouraging. The crisis in the supply of semiconductors persists and, due to the war in Ukraine, the improvement in this scenario should take even longer to occur.
Some automakers have already confirmed stops in March. Caoa Chery will place part of the employees of the Jacareí factory (interior of São Paulo) on a lay-off regime (temporary interruption of employment contracts). The start is scheduled for Saturday (12) and should extend for 52 days, reaching 450 of the 700 workers.
In São Bernardo do Campo (Greater São Paulo), the Mercedes-Benz truck factory will also have part of its activities interrupted for 12 days in March due to lack of parts.
On the dealers’ side, sales are expected to improve with the reduction of the IPI (Imposto sobre Produtos Industrializados) rate, which results in discounts of between 1% and 2% on car prices, with variations according to the range of taxation in which the vehicle is inserted and the willingness of brands to grant rebates.
Ford, Kia and Nissan are among the brands that have already updated their price lists.
The expectation is that, despite the unfavorable scenario for the sale of cars due to high interest rates and the surge in oil, the reduction of the values suggested by the brands will help the automotive market to recover after a bad start to the year.
The month of February ended with 129,300 light and heavy vehicles registered. Sales of light and heavy vehicles fell by 22.8% compared to the same month in 2021. The data are based on Renavam (National Registry of Motor Vehicles) and Fenabrave (association of distributors).
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