Brazil January 2021: Fiat (+19.3%) leads, Jeep (+39.9%) scores first Top 5 finish, market down -11.7%

Jeep scores its first ever Top 5 finish in Brazil.

The Brazilian new light vehicle market drops -11.7% year-on-year in January to 162.567 units but the daily sales rate is down just -1.3%. Fiat (+19.3%) starts the year all guns blazing and returns to the brands top spot for the fourth time in the past 5 months at 19% share vs. 16.5% over the Full Year 2020. Chevrolet (-24.1%) is struggling and only owes its 2nd place to an additional 37 units vs. Volkswagen (-9.9%) resisting slightly better than the market. Hyundai (+11.3%) is also in outstanding shape in 4th place but the hero of the month is Jeep (+39.9%): the American manufacturer scores the largest gain in the Top 20, breaks into the Brazilian Top 5 for the first time and breaks its market share record at 7.5%. The rest of the Top 10 is in dire straits, with Ford (-43.7%), Toyota (-32.4%) and Renault (-32.3%) the hardest hit. Just outside the Top 10 again Chery (+36.1%) lifts to 1.4% share at #11, with Peugeot (+20%) Volvo (+18.1%), Audi (+12.8%), Ram (+6.7%) and BMW (+0.9%) also in positive further down.

Over in the models ranking, the Chevrolet Onix (-39.5%) manages to retain the top spot but is freefalling, followed by the Fiat Strada (+70.4%) and Hyundai HB20 (+21.1%) both in excellent shape. In fact 5 models in the Top 7 return positive results: add the Jeep Renegade (+64%), VW T-Cross (+57%) and VW Gol (+4.1%). The Chevrolet Tracker (+379.9%), Jeep Compass (+16.6%), Fiat Mobi (+10.8%) and Hyundai Creta (+8.9%) also stand out below. Among recent launches, the VW Nivus advances three spots on December to a record 15th place, the Nissan V-Drive is up 7 to #47 and the Chery Tiggo 8 is down 6 to #59.

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

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

Full January 2021 Top 20 brands and Top 140 models below.