GM General Motors Company

   By Rogerio Jelmayer 
 

SAO PAULO--New-vehicles sales in Brazil declined in February, as the country's poor economy and high level of unemployment discouraged buyers from making big-ticket purchases.

Sales of cars, light vehicles, trucks and buses totaled 135,665 in February, down 7.6% from a year earlier, auto-makers association Anfavea said Tuesday. In the first two months of 2017, vehicles sales dropped 6.4% to 282,884 units.

Brazil's gross domestic product shrank 3.6% in 2016, following a contraction of 3.8% in 2015.

Economists see no recovery for the labor market soon. Joblessness rose to 12.6% in the three-month period through January, a record high for the Brazil's statistic bureau IBGE's new jobless measure, which started in 2012.

On the other hand, vehicle output increased 14.7% to 200,385 units in February from the year-earlier period, while for the January-February period it picked up 28.1% to 375,098 units.

By value, cars made in Brazil and then exported jumped 46% to $1.18 billion for February and picked up 46.4% in the first two months to $1.99 billion.

The largest auto makers in Brazil by sales are General Motors Co. (GM), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCAU) and Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE).

Write to Rogerio Jelmayer at rogerio.jelmayer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 07, 2017 11:25 ET (16:25 GMT)

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