Brazil Full Year 2020: Chevrolet and Onix on top but challenged, Jeep shines, sales down -26.6%

The Chevrolet Onix is #1 in Brazil for the 6th consecutive year.

Discover Brazilian Historical Data spanning over 65 years here.

New light vehicle sales in Brazil plummet down -26.6% year-on-year in 2020 to 1.950.889 units. Only February was in positive, with all remaining 11 months in negative, albeit in the single digits in January (-3.1%), November (-7.2%) and December (-7.5%). The brands podium is unchanged, featuring Chevrolet (-28.8%) losing share to 17.4%, Volkswagen (-20.9%) improving by over one percentage point from 15.6% to 16.8% and Fiat (-12.1%) leaping up almost three percentage points from 13.8% to 16.5%. Unlike in 2019, Chevrolet’s domination was challenged in 2020, with Volkswagen #1 from June to August and Fiat leader from September to November. Hyundai (-19.4%) climbs up 3 spots on 2019 to #4, overtaking Ford (-36.3%), Toyota (-36.1%) and Renault (-45%) all in great difficulty.

Jeep (-14.9%) posts the best hold in the Top 10 and broke its all-time monthly volume record both in November and December to lift it to 14.851 units. Chery (-0.5%) jumps 3 spots to land at #11 which is the highest annual ranking held by a Chinese brand. Better still, Chery was up to 3.179 units and 1.4% share in December. That’s a new monthly share record for a Chinese carmaker in Brazil and the 2nd highest monthly volume ever for a Chinese brand below its own 3.281 in August 2011. Volvo (-2.7%) and BMW (-5.4%) also manage to contain their losses to single digits in the remainder of the Top 20.

Over in the models ranking, the Chevrolet Onix (-43.9%) remains the most popular despite freefalling sales, however its for the first time in 5 years it didn’t rank #1 during every month of the year. The VW T-Cross led the market outright in July, ending an incredible 59 consecutive months of domination by the Chevrolet Onix which had been uninterrupted since August 2015. The Fiat Strada then took the lead in September. The T-Cross (+62.1%) ends the year at #8 and the Strada (+5%) at #4. The Hyundai HB20 (-14.8%) steps up one spot on 2019 to land in 2nd place overall while the Chevrolet Onix Plus ends its first full year of sales at #3. The VW Gol (-12.5%), Fiat Argo (-16.5%), Jeep Renegade (-17.3%) and Fiat Toro (-17.7%) also all gain share in the remainder of the Top 10. The VW Nivus is the best-selling 2020 launch at #36.

Previous month: Brazil November 2020: Jeep, Chevrolet Onix Plus break records, market drop now in single digits (-7.2%)

Previous year: Brazil 2019: Chevrolet and Onix reign, Renault up to record #4, Jeep, Chery shine in highest market since 2014 (+7.8%)

Two years ago: Brazil 2018: Chevrolet Onix crosses 200.000 sales mark in recovering market (+13.7%)

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

Full Year 2020 Top 20 brands and Top 150 models vs. Full Year 2019 figures below.