Car manufacturing in Argentine recorded a substantial increase in April, according to the latest monthly report by the Association of Manufacturers (Adefa), making it the third consecutive month with a favorable output.
Brazilian automaker CAOA reached an initial agreement to buy Ford Motor Co's plant in Sao Bernardo do Campo, the companies said on Tuesday, but CAOA could slash 1,300 jobs, according to the union representing the plant's workers.
BMW and Hyundai Motor urged the U.S. not to impose tariffs on auto imports, joining General Motors Co. in pressing their case to the Commerce Department even as a top aide to President Donald Trump dismissed the concerns as “smoke and mirrors.”
After a decade of growth, the Argentine government faces this year a decline as industrial output falls and a high inflation rates hits consumer spending and new investment. The Argentine economy grew steadily recovering from a 2001-2003 debt crisis and expanded 3% last year but it stumbled in the fourth quarter and could slid into a recession at the start of this year.
Brazil's car output and sales dropped in September from August, adding to signs of economic weakness in the third quarter after a surprisingly good start to the year. Automobile production in Brazil dropped 2.5% and sales fell 5.9% in September from August, the national automakers' association Anfavea said
Argentine automobile production fell 12% in June from the previous month and plunged 34.4% from a year earlier, according to an industry trade group. The auto industry produced 52,983 vehicles in June compared with 60,206 units in the previous month and 80,795 a year earlier.
Brazil has no plans to offer further incentives for automakers, but the government does not rule out taking steps to boost the competitiveness of other industries, Trade and Industry Minister Fernando Pimentel said in an interview published on Sunday.
Argentina's car makers, a key pillar of the industrial sector, saw production cool in October from the record levels seen in recent months as demand from neighboring Brazil dropped off.
Chinese automaker JAC Motors announced Friday it will invest 500 million dollars to build a factory in Brazil's north-eastern Bahia state its first outside China.
European Commission is to examine aid paid out by the German government to car manufacturers BMW and Volkswagen. The money has been pledged to promote projects in eastern Germany.