Brazil Auto Sales Drop Sharply in January

New car sales in Brazil slumped 39% month-over-month to 70.5 thousand units in January 2026. Registration of passenger cars declined 40.6% to 125.2 thousand, while those of light commercial vehicles contracted by 33.4% to 37.7 thousand. Sales of trucks (-34.5% to 6.4 thousand) and buses (-43.6% to 1,180) also recorded steep declines. Electrified vehicles accounted for 16.8% of registrations in January, the highest share on record. On a yearly basis, th he sector started 2026 with stable performance in the domestic market, with sales virtually unchanged (-0.4%) from the same month in 2025, despite having one fewer business day on the calendar. In foreign markets, passenger car exports fell 18.3% compared with January 2025, mainly reflecting a 5% drop in shipments to Argentina.

New car sales in Brazil reached 279,400 units in December 2025, the best monthly figure in eleven years. This number represents a 17.1% jump from the prior month and an 8.5% increase compared to December 2024, mainly attributed to excess inventory. On the other hand, exports dropped 47.7% compared to November and 38.1% year-on-year, with only 18,700 unit shipped, marking the worst result since April 2020. Shipments of domestically produced vehicles grew by 32.1% in 2025, totaling 528,800 units. The main destination continued to be Argentina, driven by the economic recovery throughout the year, while shipments to Colombia increased by 85%. A slight increase of 1.3% is expected for 2026, with 536,000 units, based on the strong performance of Argentina. Imports of foreign vehicles rose by 6.6% to 498,000 units, driven by the entry of automobiles manufactured in countries without a free trade agreement with Brazil, especially China.

New car sales in Brazil fell 8.5% to 238.6 thousand units in November 2025 from 260.7 thousand in October. Passenger car registrations dropped 5.6% to 182.1 thousand, while light commercial vehicles fell 18% to 45.4 thousand. Truck sales slumped 16.3% to 8.9 thousand, whereas bus registrations rose 11.8% to 2,203 units. Among major brands, Toyota saw the sharpest decline, with sales down 46.4% to 4,068 units. Year-on-year, registrations fell 5.9%. Despite November’s daily average of 12.6 thousand vehicles—the highest of 2025—sales have remained below 2024 levels for a fourth straight month. As a result, cumulative registrations from January to November reached 2.41 million units, up just 1.4% from the same period in 2024. Growth has been sustained mainly by imported cars, as sales of domestic models rose only 0.1%.