Brazil mid-November 2012: Hyundai HB20 in Top 10 already!

Hyundai HB20

* See the Top 150 best-selling models and Top 20 brands (new!) by clicking on the title! *

New car sales in Brazil disappoint half-way through November, down 7% year-on-year to 148,655 registrations. The year-to-date total now stands at 3,142,332 units, still up a healthy 6% over 2011. Helped by the facelifted model, the VW Gol stays very solid over the period at 8.5% share thanks to 12,698 sales, higher than its 2012 year-to-date level at 8% and 252,383 units. The Fiat Uno continues to lose ground, now at 6.1% vs. 5.6% for the Fiat Palio at #3. This is the smallest gap between the two models since April 2010 before the current generation Uno launched. Similarly the Fiat Siena stays robust at #5.

Hyundai HB20

The big event this month is the arrival of the Hyundai HB20 in the Brazilian Top 10 as early as for its third fortnight of sales in the country! It sells 3,902 units, grabs 2.6% of the market for a brilliant 10th position. Thanks to this fantastic score, Hyundai passes Nissan, Honda and Toyota to rank #6 brand in the country with 4.9% share vs. #9 and 2.7% year-to-date… Comparing the HB20’s results to the Toyota Etios (Hatch: #48, Sedan: #69) show that Hyundai’s decision to invest heavily into a new plant and an all-new model dedicated solely to the Brazilian market has already started to pay off.

This is the first model Hyundai has ever placed within the Brazilian Top 10. The appearance of a new nameplate in the Top 10 is a relatively rare occurrence in Brazil, reputed for extremely stable model rankings. The last time this happened was last January when the Chevrolet Cobalt ranked #10, and before that in April 2011 with the Renault Sandero at #10.

Chevrolet Onix

Another model we will be following closely over the next couple of months is the Chevrolet Onix: now available in GM dealerships across the country, it is up a huge 98 spots on October to land at #14 with 2,853 sales and 1.9% share. Similarly to the HB20, the Onix should break into the Brazilian Top 10 shortly (as early as by end November?) and could climb much further up, as General Motors is fairly and squarely aiming at the Gol with the Onix… Fascinating times ahead for the Brazilian car market indeed!

Previous month: Brazil October 2012: Ford Ecosport up, Hyundai HB20 lands

One year ago: Brazil mid-November 2011: Renault Duster knocks at Top 20’s door

Full mid-November 2012 Top 150 models and Top 20 brands Ranking Table below.