Car costs rise up to 38% in 12 months; see list

Refuel the car, service the vehicle or change the car. All this started to cost more for the Brazilian driver, shows the IPCA (National Index of Prices to the Broad Consumer).

In the 12-month period up to February, what most draws attention is the increase in fuel prices. Until last month, vehicular gas had inflation of 38.41%. It is the highest increase in a list with 16 sub-items, among products and services, that are part of the IPCA and weigh on the pocket of those who have a car.

Next comes ethanol, whose prices rose 36.17% in the same period. Gasoline, in turn, advanced 32.62%, the third highest on the list.

In the pandemic, fuel prices rose in Brazil in the face of the advance of oil in the international market and the rise of the dollar. Both factors are taken into account by Petrobras when setting prices at refineries.

This situation helps to explain the inflation of products such as gasoline and vehicular gas, points out João Luiz Zuñeda, founding partner of consulting firm MaxiQuim.

In the case of ethanol, the analyst recalls, there were impacts on prices with the losses in the sugarcane harvest last year, since the input is used in the production of fuel.

In addition, the rise in gasoline tends to lead more drivers to consider using ethanol, says Zuñeda. With a more heated demand, the prices of this fuel hitch a ride on the high price and are also often pressured.

“When gasoline goes up a lot, ethanol also goes up a lot”, says Zuñeda.

As the IPCA data go up to February, they still do not capture the impact of the mega-increase in fuels announced by Petrobras on March 10th. The adjustment went into effect at the state-owned refineries the following day.

At the time, gasoline rose 18.8%, diesel oil advanced 24.9%, and cooking gas rose 16.1%. The increase has already impacted prices at gas stations and gas resellers.

The mega-increase came on the heels of the economic effects of the war between Russia and Ukraine, which pushed up oil prices on the international market.

In the view of analysts, the conflict in Eastern Europe should continue as a determining factor for fuel prices in the coming months.

“We don’t know for sure where the price of a barrel of oil will end up”, points out economist André Braz, a researcher at FGV Ibre (Brazilian Institute of Economics of Fundação Getulio Vargas).

The escalation of inflation for the driver goes beyond the pumps at gas stations. According to the IPCA, tire prices rose 28.20% in the 12 months through February. In lubricating oil, the accumulated increase reached 20.61%.

Changing cars has also become a more costly task. New car inflation reached 18.49% until February. Already the used car rose 16.97% in the accumulated until last month.

According to analysts, the rise in car prices reflects the disarticulation of the automotive sector’s production chains in the pandemic.

It is because the health crisis interrupted the operation of factories, generating a shortage of inputs. Thus, there were impacts on the final values ​​of automobiles.

Vehicle insurance, in turn, accumulated a high of 14.96% in the 12 months through February. Accessories and parts advanced 10.12%. Vehicle paint, on the other hand, was up 9.41%.

“As the price of the car went up, other items, such as insurance and maintenance, also go up”, evaluates Braz. “If the car is more expensive, the insurance will also have to increase, because the indemnity will be more expensive.”

Bolsonaro’s Headache

report of sheet showed this month that the fuel boom, intensified by the effects of the war in Ukraine, is making Brazilians rethink their car use.

With a tight budget, part of the population decided to leave the car parked in the garage for longer.

The advance of items such as gasoline causes a headache for President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who is expected to seek re-election this year and fears the impacts of the electorate’s loss of purchasing power — a Datafolha survey shows that 68% of Brazilians attribute it to the government responsibility for high fuel prices.

Diesel oil, more associated with the transport of cargo, did not escape the famine either, generating dissatisfaction among truck drivers. Until February, the fuel accumulated inflation of 40.54%, higher than that of gasoline.

Bolsonaro has been piling up criticism of Petrobras and has already defended changes in pricing policy. The president of the company, General Joaquim Silva e Luna, received this Monday (28) the communication that he will leave the command of the state company.