Auto production collapses by 99% in Mexico and Brazil
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Topics: MEXICO BRAZIL
In normal times, Mexico and Brazil produce over half a million cars a month combined. The industry accounts for hundreds of thousands of jobs and several percentage points of their respective countries’ gross domestic products.
“The situation is difficult and dramatic,” Luiz Carlos Moraes, president of Brazil’s automakers association, told reporters.
The statements on production, made on Friday by Mexico’s Inegi statistics association and Brazil’s Anfavea automakers association, are the first available window into the sheer extent of the crisis for automakers in Latin America.
April shipments from Mexico, which is more dependent on exports to the United States, fell by 90% compared with March to just 27,889 vehicles, Mexico’s Inegi said.
Brazil is more focused on its domestic market but is a significant exporter to Argentina. Exports fell by 77%, Anfavea said, to 7,200 units. ■