Analyses
2 mar 21

Wikifleet Brazil: Direct sales represent 80% of LCV market

Direct sales of light commercial vehicles (LCV) in Brazil represented approximately 80% of the total LCV market in 2020, according to the latest update on Global Fleet’s Wikifleet page on the country.

The Fiat Strada compact pickup was the best-selling LCV in Brazil last year of which 67,160 of the 80,040 units sold were through direct sales (84% of the total).

Coming in at No. 2 was the Fiat Toro of which 34,832 of the 53,974 units sold were through direct sales (65% of the total) and at No. 3 was the Volkswagen Saveiro of which 28,526 of the 30,965 units sold were through direct sales (92% of the total). They are also compact-sized pickups.

The Toyota Hilux also sold well in Brazil with 32,394 of them leaving showrooms last year. These standard size pickups, however, were more popular among non-direct sales customers, according to data from the country’s motor vehicles distribution federation Fenabrave.

Considering overall sales of LCVs, a total of 335,269 new vehicles were registered in 2020, down 15.4% from the year before.  This year-over-year comparison is significantly better than the passenger car market of which 1.62 million vehicles were sold (-28.6%).


2021 Fiat Strada (source: Fiat)

Overall Direct Sales

When considering the direct sale of passenger cars as well as LCVs, these vehicles represented 44% of the overall market compared to 46% in 2019. The leading brand was Fiat with 23% of market share, followed by Volkswagen (20% share), General Motors (14%), Jeep (10%), and Ford with 7%.

On the horizon, 2021

Brazil's largest car rental and leasing company Localiza and US-based telematics solutions provider CalAmp kicked off 2021 with a new multi-year agreement aimed at reimaging the car rental industry and providing innovative mobility solutions.

Besides reducing costs and increasing fleet utilization and customer satisfaction, this partnership will enable Localiza to deliver integrated and user-friendly proprietary web-based software that provides fleet operators with a seamless end-to-end solution.

Meanwhile, after more than 100 years in Brazil, Ford Motor Co. has announced that it will be shutting down all its vehicle production in the country as part of its global restructuring plan aimed at cutting costs and increasing efficiency. 

The company will be closing down its factories in Camaçari (Bahia), Taubaté (São Paulo), and Horizonte (Ceará) this year.

Finally, we’d like to point out that Latin American banking giant Itaú Unibanco has recently been zeroing in on sharing schemes and electrification in the automobile and mobility markets in Brazil

Besides sponsoring South America’s largest public bike use offering known as Bike Sampa in the city of São Paulo (a station-based bike-sharing service operated by Tembici), the bank is working to launch Vec Itaú, a shared electric vehicle solution in the city.

Currently in its testing phase, the service is expected to launch by June, offering vehicles such as the BMW i3, Jaguar i-Pace, and JAC iEV40.

Authored by: Daniel Bland