08/07/2008 15h26
Production of cars reaches 2 million units
Folha de S. Paulo - 08/07/2008
The production of cars registered a new record in the first seven months of the year, according to Anfavea (National Association of Automobile Manufacturers). The internal sales also had good performance. Exportations fell in July, after the increase in June. 320 thousand vehicles were made in July, an increase of 19.8% compared to the same month of 2007 and of 3.5% in relation to June this year. In the yearly index, the production reached 2.01 million units, an increase of 21.8% compared to last year's same period. Sales in the domestic market, that push up the plants' production, were 288 units thousand last month, an increase of 32.6% compared to the same period of 2007 and 12.6% compared to June this year. In the first seven months of the year the number of licensings reached 1.7 million units, an increase of 30.4% compared to the same period of 2007, which had already been a record. According to Jackson Schneider, president of Anfavea, "the expansion of credit and the payment defaults under control explain the overheating of the domestic market". The interest rates, however, may inhibit the market in the next months. The annual rate went from 19.4% to 21.3% from June 2007 to June this year, still without the effects of the most recent rise in the Selic (Special system for settlement and custody) rate made by the Central Bank. For the next months, however, besides the increase of the interest rate, the strong base of comparison should cause some deceleration in the growth levels. "Neither could it grow to a rate of 30% in the next months, because the figures of 2007 were too expressive and that would demand too much from a very complex chain. The more paced growth is good for the makers and for the supply chain because the investments in the sector depend on time to develop", affirmed Schneider.
