Activeflex (flexible-fuel) made in Brazil bus made in Brazil, serving the city of
Rio de Janeiro bus, made in Brazil, in the city of
Curitiba production in the metro area of
Recife buses made in Brazil, serving the metro area of
São Paulo police van, made in Brazil, in the city of
Rio de Janeiro micro bus made in Brazil, serving the city of
Porto Alegre bus, made in Brazil, in the city of
Curitiba The first Brazilian
automotive industry was the work of
Henry Ford, who started the Brazilian subsidiary of
Ford Motor Company in 1919. In 1921 Ford opened its own production facility and was followed by General Motors in 1926. In 1928, Ford established the
Fordlândia, an industrial district in the
Amazon rainforest. The district is no longer in use but saw a populational growth compared to the early 2000s, when roughly 90 people lived in the town. In 1956, the Romi-
Isetta, an early Brazilian car, was initially produced, with license purchase of Italian Iso. In 1958,
Toyota started to produce its famous
Bandeirante. In 1959, the first
Volkswagen factory was built, it started manufacturing the
Type 2, which preceded the famous
Beetle. At the same time, a Brazilian entrepreneur, Mr. Sebastiao William Cardoso, started producing an electrical small jeep called Tupi. In the late 1950s,
Chevrolet and
Ford started manufacturing pickup trucks, and in the 1960s, automobiles and commercial vehicles, GM also brought buses. In 1967,
Puma began selling sports cars. The Italian
Fiat established its first factory in the 1970s, and
Mercedes-Benz started to produce trucks and buses during the 1950s, and opened an automobile factory in 1998. These companies dominated the Brazilian market until mid-1990s, when the Brazilian market was finally opened to imports. In the 1990s, more auto companies settled and opened factories in Brazil. The automotive industry in Brazil sells to all over
Latin America and the world. In the last few years, the Brazilian auto industry has grown quickly, attracting investments from the main global automakers. In 2007, production grew 14% compared to 2006 figures, reaching more than 4 million vehicles. In October 2012, the
Inovar-Auto Program was approved by decree with the theoretical goals of encouraging automakers to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles and investing in the national automotive industry, by managing taxation exceptions (
IPI = Tax over Industrialized Product). However, the program has received criticism, especially of
protectionism. The country has recently lost a
WTO dispute against
tax advantages and illegal practices of protectionism. The Inovar-Auto program ended in December 2017 and was replaced by the
Route 2030 Program. Timeline 1890s • •
1900s • • • •
1910s • 1911: The first Brazilian automotive magazine, "Revista de Automóveis", was launched in Rio de Janeiro by the Automóvel Clube do Brasil, founded by Santos Dumont; the collection can be observed in the Automotive Press Museum (Miau), in São Paulo. • 1908-1913: The first trip by car from
Rio de Janeiro to
São Paulo was in 1908. The first trip by car from São Paulo to
Curitiba was in 1913.
1920s • • • • • •
1930s • 1930: Ford was followed by concurrent
General Motors with the assembly of the first
Chevrolet cars in São Caetano do Sul, São Paulo, there until today, at Avenida Goiás. • •
1940s • • {{Timeline-event|date=|event=The General Motors and Ford plants, as well as those of other manufacturers, were submitted to the military command and started to assemble war vehicles with some companies producing components by their headquarters and supplied to Brazil under loan. Foundation of the
Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN), in
Volta Redonda, Rio de Janeiro, foundry and iron works serving local steel to own country industry, not depending in imported goods, suffered by
WWII; The Fábrica Nacional de Motores (FNM) is, officially, the first Brazilian company in the automotive sector. Created by
Getúlio Vargas, the
state-owned company had its headquarters in
Xerém,
Duque de Caxias, operations began only a few years later, due to the difficulties caused by the Second World War.{{Cite web|title=Curte carros antigos nacionais? 5 das marcas pioneiras foram extintas • •
1950s • • • • • • bus, made in Brazil, in the city of
Belo Horizonte. • • • •
1960s • • • • • • •
1970s • • • bus, made in Brazil, in the city of
Belém • • • bus, made in Brazil, in the city of
Curitiba 1980s • • • • •
1990s bus, made in Brazil, in the city of
Belo Horizonte • • • • • • • • • • bus, made in Brazil, in the city of
São Paulo 2000s • • • • • •
Michel Temer during a visit to the
Jeep industrial plant in the metro area of
Recife 2010s • • • • •
2020s • • • • • ==Historical production by year==