Brazil’s auto production declined more than 20% in July versus the same month last year, amid tight local credit conditions and weak exports, the country’s automaking association, Anfavea, reported. The group said production of cars and trucks in the month totaled 252,600, bringing the total number of vehicles produced so far this year to 1.8 million.
The July figure represented a 17% increase from the total reported in June, but helped push total output so far this year to a net 17% decline compared with the same period in 2013. The slow output was brought in part by reduced working hours in July during the period of Brazil’s hosting of the World Cup soccer match, but that was also aggravated by weak demand prompted by recent elevations in local interest rates. Exports to Brazil’s neighboring Argentina, meanwhile, have been hurt by sluggish demand there in reaction to that country’s ongoing foreign debt crisis.