Car sales drop in Brazil
Car sales in Brazil dropped 10 percent in October from the previous month, and declined 8.3 percent compared with the same month last year.
The decline is "surprising," reports MercoPress, and offers a "warning light" for the global auto industry.
Italy’s Fiat, Germany’s Volkswagen, Germany’s Mercedes Benz and General Motors and Ford all sell cars in Brazil.
Argentine car makers also saw production fall, reports Dow Jones, as demand from Brazil dropped.
Argentina's economy is deeply linked to Brazil's, and a slowdown there could reverberate through Argentina:
The fear is that if Brazil — Argentina’s closest trading partner — can’t escape the global problems, then Argentina won’t either. A slowdown in the Brazilian economy is likely to reverberate throughout Argentina.
Slower economic growth in Brazil and a cutback in consumption would hurt Argentina, said Riordan Roett, director of the Western Hemisphere Studies program at Johns Hopkins University. “Brazilian demand has been very important for Argentine products.”