Brazil’s new government attracts major automotive investment

The switch from the far-right authoritarian government of Jair Bolsonaro to leftist-oriented Lula da Silva has seen a sea change in the investment profile of Brazil’s automotive manufacturing sector. For much of the last decade, major automakers had eschewed significant investment in the country, preferring to focus on their domestic or largest overseas markets. Through the 2010s especially, Brazil did not rank highly in vehicle companies’ individual or collective priorities.