Brazil Emerges as a New Battleground for China’s EV-Makers

By Zhao Xuan

(São Paulo, Brazil) — When the São Paulo International Motor Show reopened in late November after a seven-year absence, the most striking feature was not the size of the venue or the crowd, but who filled it.

Around a dozen of the roughly 30 brands exhibiting at Latin America’s largest auto show were Chinese, underscoring how quickly China’s carmakers have turned Brazil into a critical battleground for their global expansion. Brands including BYD Ltd., Great Wall Motor Co. Ltd., Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., Chery Automobile Co. Ltd., Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. Ltd., Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. Ltd., Zhejiang Leapmotor Technologies Ltd. and Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Corp. Ltd. (JAC) were present. Some also unveiled new models, many of them electric or hybrid.

“This year’s São Paulo auto show feels like an international auto show for Chinese brands,” said a Brazilian auto industry executive attending the event.

Chinese automakers now control more than 10% of Brazil’s passenger-car market and over 70% of its new-energy vehicle segment, according to industry estimates — an extraordinary expansion for companies that began entering the market in earnest only three to four years ago.

Sales momentum suggests the real inflection point is still ahead. With more brands entering, factories scaling up and new models rolling out, competition in Brazil’s electric-vehicle (EV) market is expected to intensify sharply in 2026, Brazilian industry executives told Caixin.

Brazil is the world’s sixth-largest auto market and the largest in Latin America, with new vehicle sales totaling 2.63 million units in 2024. In the first nine months of 2025, sales rose 3.5% from a year earlier to about 1.81 million units.

Electric vehicles drive the shift

China’s presence in Brazil predates the EV boom, with companies such as Chery, JAC and Geely laying early groundwork through gasoline-powered vehicles. The real turning point came around 2022, when Chinese firms began accelerating exports of electric and hybrid models.

According to CleanTechnica, the three best-selling new-energy vehicles in Brazil in 2024 were all Chinese: BYD’s Song crossover, Great Wall’s Haval H6 and BYD’s Dolphin Mini.

BYD, Chery and Great Wall have emerged as the core players. In the first nine months of 2025, BYD sold 79,500 vehicles in Brazil, up 55% from a year earlier. Chery sold 49,000 units, while Great Wall delivered 27,000, posting double-digit growth rates.

BYD’s booth was among the show’s busiest. The company used the event to debut the Tang L — branded locally as the Atto 8 — a seven-seat plug-in hybrid SUV priced at 399,900 reais ($73,600). Comparable models sell for significantly less in China, highlighting the pricing power Chinese brands are testing in Brazil’s upper segments.

A São Paulo-based truck driver browsing the display said he hoped to buy a BYD Song someday, though price remained a hurdle. “Chinese cars represent technology and innovation,” he said.

Factories follow cars

Industry data from Brazilian auto dealers’ association Fenabrave show BYD is now the country’s top EV brand, outselling Volvo by more than seven to one. The company has built a dealer network of about 200 outlets and plans to expand to 250.

In July, BYD rolled its first passenger car off the production line at its new plant in Camaçari, Bahia, with planned annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles. The company’s cumulative vehicle registrations in Brazil have now topped 100,000.

Great Wall Motor, another fast mover, officially brought its Iracemápolis factory online in August after acquiring the site from Daimler AG several years earlier. The plant currently produces the Haval H6 and is designed to serve not only Brazil but markets such as Mexico, Argentina and Chile.

Brazil’s pure EV sales jumped more than 200% in 2024, among the fastest growth rates globally. Still, limited charging infrastructure and long road distances give plug-in hybrids an advantage, sustaining demand for transitional technologies.

More entrants, new strategies

Chery showcased a broad lineup spanning electric and gasoline models under its Omoda and Jaecoo sub-brands. One of the earliest Chinese entrants to Brazil, Chery built its first local plant in 2014 and is now revamping it to produce new-energy vehicles.

Other brands used the show to announce South American debuts. Changan’s premium EV brand Avatr Technology Co. Ltd. unveiled the Avatr 11 as its first Brazil-bound model, with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva making an appearance at the booth. Leapmotor formally entered Brazil and Chile with plans to open dozens of retail outlets, while GAC showcased flying-car concepts alongside EVs and confirmed plans for local R&D and production.

Not all Chinese firms are taking the same route. Geely, which previously had a minimal presence in Brazil, announced a different kind of market entry: partnering with an established giant.

In November, Geely announced a joint venture with Renault Group, forming Renault-Geely Brazil. The partnership will invest 3.8 billion reais to localize NEV platforms and models. By leveraging Renault’s existing factory capacity and dealer network in Brazil, Geely is pursuing a more asset-light strategy for its South American expansion. The first Geely model to be produced locally will be the EX5 EM-i, with production scheduled to start in the second half of 2026 at the Ayrton Senna industrial complex in Paraná state.

Notably absent were many European automakers. Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Audi AG, BMW AG and Volkswagen AG skipped the event, citing costs or shifting to smaller, niche exhibitions.

caixinglobal.com is the English-language online news portal of Chinese financial and business news media group Caixin. Global Neighbours is authorized to reprint this article.

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