Brazil auto sales sink 9.54% to 247,525 units in Aug

• Source: Gasgoo.com
• [13:13 September 03 2009]
• Comments

New automobile sales in Brazil sank in August from July, the second straight month-on-month decline after reaching a record high in June, the national dealers' association Fenabrave said Tuesday.

Sales of new cars and trucks tumbled 9.54 percent in August from July to 247,525 units, but were up 7.12 percent from August 2008, Fenabrave said. Year-to-date car sales grew 3.94 percent from the same period of of 2008 to 1.915 million units.

Brazil's automobile market has been one of the strongest in the world the past months as government tax incentives helped lower car prices and lured consumers to showrooms.

In late June, the government extended tax breaks on purchases of new vehicles until the end of the year, putting consumers in less of a hurry to benefit from the cheaper prices.

Brazil is a major market for global automakers such as Italy's Fiat SpA, Germany's Volkswagen AG, and US-based General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co.

(Reuters)