New vehicle sales in Brazil slowed in July according to market sources as weaker consumer confidence begins to catch up with what is now the world’s fourth largest car market.
Car, truck and bus registrations fell below 15,000 a day last month for the first time since March. Total sales grew 7% from June to 342,300 vehicles due to three additional work days in the month, but sales fell 6% from July 2012.
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Government pledges to extend tax breaks for locally made cars through the end of the year has kept the auto industry on track for record sales and output, although slow economic growth is affecting many other sectors.
Reuters noted a measure of consumer confidence tracked by think-tank Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) fell in July to its lowest level in more than four years as high inflation eroded purchasing power.
In the first seven months of this year, 2.14m new vehicles have been sold, up 2.9% from the same period of 2012. National carmakers’ association Anfavea has forecast sales to grow between 3.5% and 4.5% this year to a new high.
More than 70% of sales in Brazil’s car market are taken by Fiat, Volkswagen, General Motors and Ford.
