Brazilian car manufacturing started to recover during the first month of the second half of the year. Numbers released by the National Association of Automotive Vehicle Manufacturers (Anfavea), point out that in July, production reached 170,300 units, an increase of 73% over June, but still 36.2% lower than the same month last year. Despite the increase, it was still the worse July since 2003.
Mexico’s auto production and exports picked up steam in June from a month earlier but were down sharply versus a year earlier, official data showed on Tuesday, as carmakers reopened plants from their coronavirus-induced shutdown.
Brazil’s automakers association said on Monday it only expects auto sales to recover to pre-coronavirus levels in 2025, discarding the possibility of a V-shaped recovery and taking on a grim view for the industry.
Michigan and California, two U.S. manufacturing powerhouses, acted on Thursday to allow factories to reopen from coronavirus lockdowns over the next few days, as millions more Americans joined the ranks of workers left jobless by the pandemic.
Britain will ban the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars from 2035, five years earlier than planned, in an attempt to reduce air pollution that could herald the end of over a century of reliance on the internal combustion engine.
Sales of new cars in Argentina collapsed by almost 50% in the first quarter of 2019, the Association of Automobile Dealers of Argentina (ACARA) said Monday. Sales fell by 49.5% in the year-on-year comparison, with purchases down 50.4% in March year-on-year too, said ACARA.
Brazilian automaker CAOA, which produces vehicles with Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co and China’s Chery Automobile Co, is in talks to buy a Ford Motor Co plant in the country that is slated to close by 2019, according to sources reported in the Sao Paulo media.
Ford Motor Co. said on Tuesday it will close its oldest factory in Brazil and exit its heavy commercial truck business in South America, a move that could cost more than 2,700 jobs as part of a restructuring meant to end losses around the world. Ford previously said the global reorganization, to impact thousands of jobs and possible plant closures in Europe, would result in US$11 billion in charges.
Japanese car giant Honda is expected to announce the shutdown of its plant in south west England in 2022, putting 3,500 jobs at risk, media reports said on Monday. The car manufacturer is to announce the closure of its Swindon plant on Tuesday, according to Sky News, but still keep its European headquarters in nearby Bracknell.
Automaker General Motors Co is in talks to invest 9 billion reais (US$ 2.5 billion) in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo over the next three years in return for tax incentives, newspaper Valor Economico has reported.