Volkswagen vies to fill Ford’s production gap while Lifan closes in Uruguay

Ford’s decision to close down heavy-truck production in Brazil is proving to be a stroke of serendipity for its German rival, Volkswagen. According to Exame, Volkswagen is currently using 40% of its truck and bus production capacity at its Resende unit in Brazil, which leaves them with plenty of rooms to make up for Ford’s production loss. In addition, the German company is currently in an ongoing process of investing R$1.5bn to improve production in Brazil, until 2021.

Last year, Ford sold 9,314 trucks in Latin America, according to data from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Anfavea), while Volkswagen sold 20,242 units and rival Mercedes-Benz 21,153. Brazil’s total truck sales rose 58% to 13,748 units in the first two months of 2019, YoY.

Meanwhile, across the border in Uruguay, Chinese-automaker Lifan has decided to suspend vehicle production in its San José plant that once employed 340 workers during peak production. Lifan’s Uruguay unit mainly targets Brazilian and Argentinian markets.The company have cited a significant drop in sales caused by economic problems in the region as the main reason for closure. Lifan closed last year with US$24.4m in export revenues.

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