After fighting all year long head to head, there was a winner who broke away at the end and became the best-selling imported car in Brazilthe most important market in the region and Argentine’s main partner in the automotive industry.
The Fiat Cronos, produced in the brand’s plant in Córdoba, prevailed over the Toyota Hilux pickup, manufactured in the industrial center that the Japanese company has in Zárate, province of Buenos Aires.
The Cronos, which was also the best-selling model in the Argentine market during 2023, reached 50,760 patented units and surpassed the Toyota truck by just over 4 thousand units, as they were sold 46,206 copies of the Hilux.
The largest market in the region
The Brazilian market remains the most important market in South America and has just closed the best year of 0 km sales since the pandemic. During 2023, a total of 2,176,008 patents were registered in the neighboring country, including cars and light commercial vehicles. If trucks and buses were added, the count exceeds 2.3 million.
To compare it with the local market, In Argentina, 449,438 vehicles were patented during 2023. Of the ten best-selling models last year in the country, nine were domestically produced and only one imported (Toyota Etios, which ceased production in Brazil after mid-year).
The best-selling model in Brazil in 2023 was once again the Strada pickup (120,600 units) for the third consecutive year. It was escorted by the Volkswagen Polo (111,242) and the Chevrolet Onix (102,043). All of these models and even last year’s Top Ten are Brazilian production.
In fact, you have to go up to 16th place in the total sales ranking to find a model that was not manufactured in Brazil. And that is where the Fiat Cronos appears. The Hilux occupies position 20 in the general ranking.
Fiat’s leadership over Toyota materialized in the last two months of the year, since by October they were separated by just 800 units.
Another Argentine-made model with good commercial performance in the neighboring country was the Peugeot 208 (produced in El Palomar, province of Buenos Aires), which was the third best-selling imported product with 28,631 patents.
The particularity is that these Fiat, Toyota and Peugeot models were also the best sellers in Argentina last year, only the second and third places were reversed. But in any of the three cases, these vehicles sell more in Brazil than in Argentina.
The other nationally manufactured models that were sold in Brazil were: Ford Ranger, 20,356 units; Toyota SW4, 16,011; Volkswagen Taos, 15,990; Nissan Frontier, 8,391; Volkswagen Amarok 7,981; Mercedes Sprinter 2,162; and Chevrolet Cruze, 1,710.
There are Argentine production models that do not enter the Brazilian market. In some cases because they are manufactured in both countries (Chevrolet Tracker or Renault Logan) or simply because they are not sold there (Renault Alaskan).