Dear readers, worthy readers,
We close the first quarter of the year and, on this April 1st (it seems like a lie), the automotive sector has been showing results beyond expectations!
But how so?
Vehicle sales (cars and light commercial vehicles) are showing excellent growth rates!
We ended the 1st quarter with 484 thousand vehicles sold compared to 437 thousand in the 1st quarter of 2023, an increase of 10.7%.
It is logical that the segment is still suffering from the consequences of Covid-19, which changed the entire dynamics of the automotive sector (and other activities). This year, we sold 100 thousand fewer cars than in the 1st quarter of 2019, before the pandemic. And we have a gap of 300 thousand cars in the 1st quarter of 2013, when we reached our peak in sales!
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But we must celebrate the increase of more than 100 thousand cars between 2022 and 2024! In the automotive sector, it is always the “baby steps” that lead to a path of continuous growth, and we are following that path!
And what is this year’s big takeaway?
Do you, dear reader, remember the “Pareto Principle” you learned in college? If you don’t remember, let’s give a brief explanation: he states that 80% of your results are generated by 20% of the causes.
And, this year, the “Pareto Principle” explains the sector’s excellent performance!
In the 1st quarter of last year, we had eight brands (10% of the market) that sold 46 thousand cars. This year, the same brands sold 89 thousand cars, an increase of 96%, and which today correspond to 19% of the market.
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And these are brands that are in the middle to bottom in the ranking of those that sell the most: Nissan (+31%); Honda (+20%); BYD (+2,058%); Caoa-Chery (+170%); Ford (+47%); RAM (+206%); GWM (+4,025%); and Mitsubishi (+30%).
Those brands that are at the forefront (our top 7), which represented 83% of the market, saw their share plummet to 76%. These brands (Fiat; VW; GM; Toyota; Hyundai; Renault; and Jeep), which sold 364 thousand vehicles in the 1st quarter of last year, had their sales increase by just 0.7%, reaching the figure of 367 thousand cars sold in this year.
What if I told you that VW sales alone increased by almost 30% this quarter? You, dear reader, can imagine what the carnage was like for the other brands!
And when the situation is good, everything is great! We also recorded growth in sales of used vehicles. This year, 2.65 million used cars were sold compared to 2.47 million in the 1st quarter of 2023, an increase of 7.6%.
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In short, used car sales in this 1st quarter are practically the same as the result for 2021, when we had our historic record!
And why are used car sales important?
As they are the main currency for purchasing a new car – a heated used market reflects positively on the new car market.
But this year in the automotive sector it is being GOOD different!
I could tell you that, this year, the VW Polo is (momentarily) overtaking the Fiat Strada as the best-selling car. There were 27,300 Polos sold against 26,600 Stradas. That the Hyundai Creta remains the best-selling SUV. The size of the pickup truck market is already 20%, almost displacing the small hatchback market, which represents 23%. That automotive credit is back in full force. Anyway… several factors!
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But I will address another topic that is not talked about much in the media.
The motorcycle market.
If, at the beginning of this text, I praised the growth of the car sector. in the motorcycle market we saw a 21% increase. In this 1st quarter, we had 432 thousand motorcycles sold compared to 357 thousand in the 1st quarter of 2023.
And there’s more: if in automobiles we sold 100 thousand vehicles less than in 2019 (pre-pandemic year), or -17%, in motorcycles we are up 67%, or 170 thousand more motorcycles. In fact, the year 2024 has everything set to be a new sales record for the sector. The result for this 1st quarter of 2024 is lower than the historical record (1st quarter of 2012) by just 10 thousand motorcycles.
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Want more?
If we make a comparison between motorcycle sales and car sales (excluding commercial vehicles, such as vans and the like), the Brazilian automotive market recorded the fact that, in this first quarter, more new motorcycles were sold than cars. .
But it wasn’t a small thing…
We are talking about 432 thousand motorcycles sold this year against 377 thousand automobiles. A difference of 55 thousand more motorcycles. And, in these first three months of the year, more motorcycles were sold every month than cars.
In the graph above, it can be seen that, between 2010 and 2020, 83% more cars were sold than motorcycles. In the period from 2021 to 2024, this difference fell to 15%, and this year, the sale of motorcycles is already greater than that of cars by 14%.
It was as I mentioned at the beginning of this text. The automotive sector would now have to be divided into two parts: AP and DP (before the pandemic and after the pandemic). There has been a total shift in the economy that has been “hitting head on” (positively) in the sales of cars and motorcycles, whether due to the emergence/growth of motorcycle freight services and the like (iFood type), the use of motorcycles as a means of individual transport for escape traffic (saving time). Apart from the skyrocketing prices of new cars and a bunch more “Paranauês”.
Want one more to finish?
It’s much more (but like: much more level hard) more profitable to sell a motorcycle than a car!
Yes… this vile intern will have plenty of topics to talk about the sector!
So, what do you think? If you have any questions, send me an email here.
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