Brazil Auto Sales to Rise 10% in 2010, Dealer Group Estimates

Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s new vehicle sales may rise 10 percent this year as Latin America’s largest economy expands the most since 2007, the country’s dealership federation said.

“Our expectation is that in 2010 we recover all we lost and still have positive growth” as demand improves with the economy, Sergio Reze, president of Fenabrave, as the group is known, told reporters today in Sao Paulo.

Brazil’s economy will grow 5.2 percent this year, the most since 2007, according to a weekly central bank survey published yesterday. The country’s gross domestic product probably shrank 0.24 percent in 2009, the survey found.

Vehicle sales in Brazil increased 11 percent to 3.14 million in 2009, as tax breaks and a rebound in consumer lending lured buyers, said Fenabrave. Sales rose 51 percent to 293,030 in December, compared with the same month last year.

Passenger car and light truck sales in December climbed 51 percent to 277,944, while buses and trucks gained 42 percent to 15,086, said Fenabrave. For the year, passenger car and light truck sales rose 13 percent to 3.01 million, while sales of buses and trucks fell 12 percent to 131,744, Fenabrave said.

General Motors Co., Volkswagen AG and Ford Motor Co. plan to invest a combined 14.2 billion reais ($8.3 billion) in coming years to increase production capacity and develop products in Brazil.