(openPR) - Approximately 82% of the Brazilian market for flex-fuel vehicles, cars that are able to run on high percentage blends of ethanol and gasoline, is in the hands of just three car manufacturers. Fiat, Volkswagen and General Motors were able to realize market shares of 30.91%, 26.64% and 24.29% respectively from January through July 2007.

Overall flex-fuel vehicle sales rose more than 7% in August over July to a record 196.202 units, following the structural cost-competitive position of ethanol over gasoline. Brazil’s flex-fuel vehicle fleet now amounts to 3.9 million units, or between 15% and 16% of Brazil’s light vehicle fleet.

The dominant position of Fiat, Volkswagen and General Motors remained virtually unchanged from 2006, although manufacturers such as Ford, Peugeot and Renault seem to slowly increase their market share. Toyota entered the market in May this year and has been able to reach a 0.88% market share in just 3 months, equalling monthly sales volumes of Renault and Honda.

A complete overview of Brazil’s flex-fuel vehicle market was published by Ethanol Statistics in its latest market report ‘The Brazilian Ethanol Market 2007’, available at www.ethanolstatistics.com.

The report also provides a comprehensive analysis of Brazilian ethanol consumption, production and trade, including sugarcane land prices and ethanol production cost.

Rob Penne
Ethanol Statistics
r.penne@ethanolstatistics.com
+31 6 5432 558

Ethanol Statistics Ltd.
P.O. Box 5058
3301 CB Dordrecht
The Netherlands
www.ethanolstatistics.com

Ethanol Statistics is a European market research and business information publisher. Through its website, it provides professionals in the ethanol industry the latest ethanol news, commodity prices, expert opinions and market analyses.