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71 AutoData | October 2018 Disclousure/VWCO Sales of trucks and buses together are expected to close 2018 at a 25% increase. With this, the comparative basis will be higher, but double-digit growth is likely to continue. N o one has suffered more from the crisis that has been taking place since 2014 than the truck segment. Last year, the number of sales was 70% lower than the best year registered in history, 2011, when there were 173 thou- sand units sold. A start of reaction was seen in the se- cond half last year, which was fully con- firmed this year. Despite the truck drivers’ strike, the first half endedwith 32 thousand units sold, increase of 49% compared to the first half of 2017. The confirmation of the 2018-2019 Safra Plan and its injection of R$ 194.3 billion to finance the planting structure, encouraged even more the ma- nufacturers. Until August, considering all segments, truck sales increased 49.5% and production jumped 31.7%. But for next year, cloudy due to the electoral scenario and the crisis in Argentina, the manufacturers’ projections are not so optimistic – even because, unli- ke 2017, the comparative base of 2018 will be much higher. Some truck manufacturers expect to see a fleet renewal process performed by the big transporters in 2019. VWCO, of the Traton Group, is the most optimistic of the companies with regard to the coming event of a vehicle buying wave. Roberto Cortes, CEO, says that the si- tuation has reached the limit where fleet owners are under pressure to buy new trucks because the assets devaluation assets reached a critical point: “Thosewho have an asset-based business model will buyvehicles in 2019 because the fleets are old enough to reflect on their operations”. Ford and Iveco follow the same line, but with expectation around the fleet re- novation in the medium term, depending on the results of the elections. Another business vector pointed is the return of some sectors from inactivity, specifically the construction industry. For Mercedes-Benz, a new president and a newgovernment teammay lead to invest- ments in infrastructure projects: according to Philipp Schiemer, its president, “it’s a missing demand and that we have been really waiting for”. Recognized as companieswith a strong export profile, Scania and Volvo believe in maintaining the planning that has the search for new markets as a pillar. In the case of Scania, which has its capacity al- most full occupied by demand from other markets, the bet will be to intensify the attack of its new line of trucks in South American markets. Today, 70% of factory production in São