The shutdown of a Ford plant in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, where trucks were assembled left a void in the Brazilian truck market. The company had historically been responsible for 11% of trucks sales and was among the four largest manufacturers. German companies Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen are candidates to split Ford’s share between them, according to analysts. “These companies launched models to compete in the segment in which Ford was stronger, for trucks up to 15 tonnes,” said Thiago Costa, an analyst at consultancy IHS Markit. Part of Ford’s share has already been transferred over to other companies, according to Ari de Carvalho, director of truck sales and marketing at Mercedes-Benz of Brazil. The German company’s market share in Brazil grew to 29.5% from 27%.
Source: Valor Econômico
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