weekly_edition_823

6 4.2 to 4.7.2018 Anfavea balance T he pace of the automotive sector remains strong and the automakers installed in Brazil closed March, and the first quarter of the year, celebrating new positive numbers of production. In all, according to data fromAnfavea released on Thursday, 5 thousand 267.4 vehicles were manufactured in the month, up 25.3% in relation to February and 13.5% compared toMarch of last year. In the first quarter, 699.6 thousand vehicles were produced, a volume that is already very close to the average recorded over the last ten years of 718 thousand units in the period. This result for 2018 represented growth of 14.6% in relation to the 610.7 thousand units manufactured in the same period last year. Of the total produced in March, 254.6 thousand were light vehicles, 9.9 thousand trucks and 2.8 thousand buses. In the quarter, 668.3 thousand were light, 24.4 thousand trucks and 6.8 thousand buses. The highlights of the first three months were mainly commercial vehicles, with growth of 55.1% in trucks and 67.4% in buses compared to the same period last year. “Until now, everything indicates that we will continue to maintain this growth throughout the year,” said Anfavea’s president Antônio Megale. “This should happen relatively easily this year to our goal of once again surpassing the 3 million mark of vehicles manufactured in one year. “ But... will suppliers be able to keep up with the same pace of growth of automakers throughout the year? Megale evaluated that “this would be a good problem to be solved”. Another good news also linked to the growth of production refers to the fact that the level of employment in the automakers is growing. In March, it used 131.2 thousand workers in the production lines, an increase of 0.6% compared to February, when 130.4 thousand people were being occupied. Production increases 14.6% in the first trimester Marcio Stefani | marcio@autodata.com.br