Increasing sales of electric cars in Europe lead Volkswagen to shift its combustion engine production to Brazil and Argentina

Motivated by the wave of electrification of European cars, Volkswagen decided to transfer part of its production of combustion engines from Germany to factories in San Carlos, in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Cordoba, Argentina, where the electric car segment still crawling, according to Pablo Di Si, president of the automaker for South America.

This shows that while the global automotive industry is going towards its "electrification", Brazil's automotive market still has few electric car models. There are currently 4 electric models and some hybrids. This means that the Brazilian market will lag behind the industry's technological innovations for some time.

Thus, we will continue driving excessively expensive cars that pollute the environment for years to come.

Insolvency remains high among Brazilian consumers

Two years ago, Brazilian financial institutions were forced by the Central Bank of the country to reduce the time that left consumers rolling the debt on the credit card. This measure aimed to reduce the level of default among Brazilian consumers.

When this measure was announced by the Brazilian Central Bank, credit card interest in Brazil had the highest cost of the world financial system. The average rate has dropped from an unbelievable range of 500% a year to the current 300%, which is still very high.

Entering this type of debt is a clear indication that the Brazilian consumer still faces many difficulties in paying its debts. The level of defaults in the country in 2019 follows around 35%.

To make matters worse, in 2019, defaults by micro and small companies in Brazil reached a record high. The number of defaulters reached 5.3 million in March 2019, according to Serasa Experian.