Brazil EV Gross sales Report: Market Share Rises to five.4% in December in PHEV-Dominated Market

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I do know a lot of our readers are usually not too keen on plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), contemplating them an inferior answer to purely electrical autos (BEVs), which, to be truthful, they’re. However fashionable PHEVs, with their all-electric ranges over 50 km and their hyper-efficient powertrains (a few of which can get 2,000 km out of a tank gasoline), are nonetheless a major enchancment on common ICEVs, and in some instances will be seen as “virtually” BEVs, insofar as they will rapid-charge and make small journeys in electrical mode.

Latin America’s EV leaders (in market share) have proven a robust desire for BEVs. However Brazil, the most important market within the area, goes in the wrong way, with PHEVs commanding two thirds of the EV market and reaching an all-time excessive report in December.

Market Overview

2024 has been 12 months for car gross sales in most of Latin America, and Brazil is not any exception: whole car gross sales grew 21% to 2.6 million autos. EV gross sales grew 133% by way of the 12 months, due to vital year-on-year gross sales in addition to sluggish but fixed progress month-on month:

Brazil’s market is very seasonal, so anticipate January 2025 to current decrease numbers, although sustaining YoY progress.

December 2024 reached an all-time excessive of just about 14,000 items. Nevertheless, this adopted the same report in December 2023, so progress YoY was solely 22%. PHEVs accounted for all the expansion, as BEV gross sales fell 27% that month:

Because of the common market booming by way of 2024, market share didn’t rise as steeply because it in any other case would’ve, but it surely nonetheless managed to clock a wholesome 5.4% share in December (1.7% BEV, 3.7% PHEV).

Now the rise of PHEVs has a reputation: BYD Tune. This massive SUV (for Latin American requirements) stands roughly between a Chevy Equinox and a Blazer, but it may be bought for a mere BRL$189,800 (USD$32,100), and it was briefly discounted to USD$28,778 in November, making it one of the crucial inexpensive autos in its class. The Tune accounted for over a 3rd of EV gross sales in December, adopted by the GWM Haval H6 and the not too long ago arrived BYD King. Observe: a sure variety of Haval H6 had been HEVs, and we have now no means to find out what number of, so it might be that this mannequin deserved to be a lot decrease on the checklist.

Model-wise, Brazil doesn’t present information for PHEVs, so it is a BEV-only checklist that accounts for a 3rd of EV gross sales within the nation. Unsurprisingly, BYD dominates (spearheaded by its profitable BYD Seagull/Dolphin Mini), adopted by GWM and Volvo.

By way of 2024, the BYD Tune stays probably the most bought EV, adopted once more by the unsure Haval H6 and the BYD Dolphin Mini.

Model-wise, BYD as soon as once more dominated BEV gross sales in 2024, with 70% of the BEV marketplace for itself. Given the dominance of the BYD Tune, it additionally received over 50% of the PHEV market, making it probably the most dominant automaker in Brazil. It’s one factor to dominate small markets like Uruguay or Costa Rica, the place just a few hundred EVs are bought each month … however Brazil is a huge, and BYD is making fairly the facility transfer by taking up the world’s sixth largest automobile market.

Pleasant reminder, it is a BEV-only checklist.

Ultimate Ideas

We’re solely getting began.

Later this 12 months, BYD will begin producing the BYD Tune and the BYD Dolphin Mini in its not too long ago bought manufacturing unit in Camaçari (regardless of the scandal about employee’s rights a month in the past, on which there appears to be no replace but). GWM appears to be able to launch manufacturing for the PHEV Haval H6, and Chery can also be ramping up the Tiggo 8 Professional, which has a PHEV variant. Chery additionally produces the i-Automotive, however after the arrival of the BYD Dolphin Mini, gross sales of this mannequin have collapsed.

These three manufacturers are poised to dominate the closely protected Brazilian market as tariffs return up once more. It’s very probably that the Mercosur market may even have a major presence of those three, although Argentina’s insurance policies have distanced it from the protectionist coverage that after characterised the whole South Cone. And since Brazil is a vital car exporter for South America, I wouldn’t be too shocked if all these fashions arrived in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and many others., from Brazil as a substitute of China in 2025/26.

Nevertheless, the flip to protectionism (which all of us knew was coming since 2023) will probably deepen the PHEV dominance we’ve thus far seen on this market. BEV-wise, solely the Dolphin Mini (and the not-so-popular i-Automotive) might be produced in Brazil in 2025, that means the market will additional flip to domestically produced PHEVs. Till the Chery EQ7 and the GWM Ora 03 begin native manufacturing, anticipate the Brazilian market to stay dominated by PHEVs.

And but, climate-wise, this will not be as unhealthy because it sounds. Brazil is a world chief in biofuels, and it’ll translate that experience to its new PHEVs: all these new fashions might be inbuilt Brazil with flexi-fuel engines — that’s, with engines able to operating at 100% ethanol and/or mixes of gasoline and ethanol.

So, positive, we all know that biofuels are usually not a viable answer for normal ICEVs (as they will’t scale up sufficient), however they might be a viable answer for PHEVs, if PHEVs are used principally in electrical mode and gasoline consumption is lowered by 80% or extra. It might be that Brazil is the one nation the place PHEVs could make an actual distinction in phasing out oil consumption. Or it might be that, after just a few years, the market turns into BEV-dominated as we’ve seen in different international locations within the area. What do you guys suppose?