Dealers fear a brake on sales when measures to make cars cheaper haven’t come into effect

Officials report a decline in car sales over the past few weeks

Car sales – Freepik

A day after the government’s announcement of tax cuts to reduce the prices of popular cars, many car dealers are facing a state of uncertainty. The rules will be formalized through orders and interim measures, but the Treasury requested 15 days to develop the program.

But concerns about declining sales preceded the promise made by the vice president and minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, Geraldo Alckmin, of a reduction of up to 10.96% in prices from the reduction of the government tax on cars to BRL. 120 thousand.

This Thursday (25), Globo was in some Carioca businesses to check customer behavior and understand sales expectations after the announcement that will affect the industry.

At the Renault dealership, in Botafogo, in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, sales have fallen in recent weeks. But the decline has been seen since the beginning of the crisis and has remained with the increase in interest rates.

The sales manager at the dealership, Marcelo Espíndola said that this week he sold only one car, a Kwid model. Usually, per month, it sells 36 cars – including new and semi-new -, a number that is not considered positive, compared to 90 cars sold at other times. The manager makes sure, however, that the situation is not limited to that store.

– This situation is not only here, it is in the whole group. Sales fell and now people are waiting for the discount that comes from the tax cut – speech.

sales freeze
On the other side of the city, in the North Zone, the situation is the same. At another Renault dealership, an employee, who did not want to be named, expressed concern over the possibility of a sales freeze. Even the buying and selling of new or used cars can be affected, according to him.

O Globo also found that the Renault factory is preparing internally to return the invoices of the cars to return the correct value, according to the reduction, to the shop.

At Volkswagen, the same will happen. The brand is preparing to fix the value of cars. Meanwhile, in businesses in the South Zone, workers report fear for the future.

– We haven’t sold the car yet today. Imagine what the next 15 days of uncertainty will be like – firing an employee.

Last weekend of May
In the same region, a Hyundai official confirmed the news that sales are difficult for everyone in the industry. According to the report, this week the shop had sold only four cars. In addition to concerns about the freeze on sales.

In this store, the announcement of tax reduction takes place in the period when traditionally, according to reports, car sales are high: the last weekend of the month.

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At the Fiat branch, workers were more optimistic about the days following the tax cut announcement. In the Southern Region division, employees reported that the brand already has a price discount exceeding R$ 6,000, which will be the same as the discount promised by the government.

What brands are saying
Stellantis, the group that owns the Fiat, Jeep, Peugeot, Citroën, Ram and Abarth brands, as well as Chrysler and Dodge, said it was evaluating the measures and awaiting studies that would finalize the outline of the plan.

Volkswagen, for its part, said that it is evaluating the incentive measures for the automotive industry provided by the Federal Government and is waiting for the detailed disclosure of the plan to comment on the subject.

When contacted, Hyundai and Renault did not respond to a request for information by the time of publication of this report.