BRASILIA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- New automobile sales in Brazil hit 1.84 million units between January and September of this year, a 14 percent increase over the same time period in 2017, the National Association of Vehicle Manufactures (Anfavea) said Thursday.
The sale of trucks during the first nine months of the year surpassed 52,700 units which exceeded total sales for all of 2017.
Last month, sales totaled 213,300 units, an increase of 7.1 percent compared to the same month last year.
The increase shows continued recovery in the automobile sector which is surprising, said Anfavea president Antonio Megale.
"The market seems indifferent to the political volatility," he said.
With the good results, the group increased its sales forecast from 7 to 11 percent for the year.
In spite of an increase in sales, vehicle production in September was only 223,100 units, a drop of 6.3 percent in comparison to the same time period last year.
The decreased demand from Argentina affected the volume of exports of vehicles manufactured in Brazil.
The negative numbers are also due to a drop in demand from Mexico, which, according to Megale, means the industry must look for new markets in order to reduce dependency on the Argentine and Mexican markets.
The forecast for vehicle exports was revised from zero to an 8.6 percent drop.
