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BRASILIA, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's automobile production plunged to 1.2 million in the first seven months of 2016, down 20.4 percent from a year earlier, the national automakers' association said Thursday.
In July only, automakers produced 189,900 vehicles, dropping 15.3 percent compared with a year ago, according to the National Association of Vehicle Manufacturers (Anfavea).
Sales reached 1,164,100, a decrease of 24.7 percent year-on-year, according to Anfavea.
In terms of value, Brazilian vehicle exports dropped 8.1 percent from a year earlier to 5.7 billion U.S. dollars.
Employment in auto industry also saw a contraction. Anfavea figures showed around 126,000 people employed in the industry, a drop of 6.6 percent from the previous year.
Looking at the whole year, Anfavea estimates Brazil will produce 2.29 million cars, which marks a decrease of 5.5 percent from last year.
Anfavea President Antonio Megale tried to put a positive spin on the figures, saying in a statement that the domestic market started to regain some strength.
His cautious optimism was reflected in figures -- sales totaled 181,400 in July, up 5.6 percent from June. But it still marked a 20.3 percent drop compared with July 2015.
