Brazil February 2020: Chery (+46.6%) hits Chinese record ranking at #11 in market back up 4.6%

Chery is #11 in February, the highest a Chinese brand has ever been in Brazil.

The Brazilian new car market swings back into positive in February at +4.6% year-on-year to 192.639 registrations, however this is not enough to flip the YTD tally into positive also, at -1% to 376.756 units. Brand leader Chevrolet (+0.8%) trails the market growth but keeps a 2.500 unit-advantage over #2 Volkswagen (+22.4%) in fantastic shape again this month. Fiat (-7.6%) struggles but holds onto the third spot, distancing Hyundai (+8.9%) back in form, Ford (-2.8%), Toyota (+3.9%) and Renault (-9%) falling 3 spots on January to #7. Nissan (+16.7%) and Jeep (+10.9%) post the two additional double-digit gains in the Top 10 but once again the best performer of the month is to be found just outside: Chery (+46.6%) steps up one spot to #11 which is the highest ever ranking held by a Chinese manufacturer in Brazil, also graduating to a round 1% share, the 2nd best-ever share hit by a Chinese brand below the 1.07% it reached itself back in August 2011. Chery’s volume for the month however (1.923), remains a fair distance off its own all-time Chinese record of 3.281 in August 2011. Below, Audi (+48.2%), Land Rover (+26.2%) and Volvo (+14%) also make themselves noticed just as Porsche surges to #21.

Over in the models ranking, the Chevrolet Onix (-4%) remains out of touch and secures a 55th successive monthly win (no interruption since August 2015). For the third month in a row, it is followed in the Brazilian charts by its sedan variant the Chevrolet Onix Plus repeating at a record 4.7% share. It is now the 4th time time in the past 6 months that two Chevrolets hold the Top 2 Brazilian spots, keeping in mind this had not happened for 35 years before. The Hyundai HB20 (+4.4%) reestablishes itself on the podium for the first time since last October thanks to a new, more sharply designed generation, knocking the Ford Ka (+7.2%) down to #4 just as the VW Gol (+30.2%) rounds out the Top 5. The VW Polo (+14.6%) and Jeep Renegade (+13.8%) also manage very solid scores in the remainder of a Top 10 in which the new VW T-Cross appears for the third time in the past 4 months. After breaking into the Top 50 for the first time last month, the Chery Tiggo 5X (+167.7%) advances a further 3 spots in February to #47, remaining by far the most popular Chinese nameplate above the Chery Tiggo 2 (#63), Tiggo 7 (#74) and Arrizo 5 (#94).

Previous month: Brazil January 2020: Chevrolet Onix Plus smashes Prisma record in third market drop in past 6 months (-3.1%)

One year ago: Brazil February 2019: Fiat (+65.9%), Chery (+334.4%) headline market up for 22nd straight month (+25.2%)

Full February 2020 Top 20 brands and Top 150 models below.