Sales of new cars break record
Folha de S. Paulo
The sales of new vehicles broke one more record in the year so far, getting to 1.066 million units registered in the first quarter, according to the data gathered by Folha. This figure exceeds the best mark so far, from 2008 (909.2 thousand). 277.9 thousand cars, light commercial vehicles, buses and trucks were licensed in April, and the result is still being influenced by the effect of the reduction of the IPI rate (Excise Tax), which ended in March, but its effects continued in April due to the stocks in the stores and the race the consumers made to the dealerships in the past days so as to take advantage of the tax benefit.
While advancing the numbers registered until last 29, which already pointed towards the record for the months of April and in the first quarter, the new President of the Anfavea (National Association of Vehicle Manufacturers), Cledorvino Belini, said last Friday that "April is a good month, considering the daily average and the seasonality". The Executive, who also controls Fiat in Latin America, took office on Friday and will be ahead of the entity until 2013. In March, best month in sales and production of the car industry, 353.7 thousand units were licensed, which led to new records in the first quarter as well. "May will be a more revealing month as regards the situation of the market", says Luiz Carlos Mello, Coordinator of the CEA (Center for Automotive Studies), who believes the prior levels of registration of cars should be achieved due to repressed demand and offer of credit.
Dario Gaspar, Vice President of the AT Kearney consulting firm, adds the perception of stability on the job to the ease of financing, which makes the consumer more secure to get into a mid-term debt, in addition to the real increase in the wages. "The competition between makers should remain fierce", he foresees, pointing out that, with this level of sales, the companies are able to dilute the fixed costs, thus the interest in keeping the promotional sales. Since April, cars running on alcohol or flex fuel cars with engines of up to 1,000 cc of capacity had the IPI tax rate increased from 3% to 5%. As regards the cars with engine of up 2,000 cc of capacity, the percentage went from 7.5% to 11%. For trucks, the tax exemption remains until June, when the rate returns to 5%.