The host nation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup is soon to become the world’s third-largest automotive market. Brazil currently has some 200 cars per 1,000 inhabitants. Growth in the vehicle market will be driven by the rise of the country's prosperous middle class.

By 2020, the number of newly registered vehicles could double to over 6.6 million, which would make Brazil the third-largest sales market behind China and the United States. Global third place is currently held by Japan.
The country boasts the world's second-longest road network. More than 50 percent of all goods are transported by truck, while buses are the primary form of transportation for people. Every day, 900,000 vehicles travel on just two highways alone, ‘Bandeirantes’ and ‘Anhanguera’, the two main routes between the metropolises of São Paulo and Campinas. Around 160,000 million light, medium, and heavy trucks were newly introduced in 2010, as were 28,500 buses. 

Powering cars with alcohol: In 1975, the Brazilian government launched the ‘Proalcool’ program to produce biofuel from sugar cane, in order to reduce the country's dependence on oil imports. Since then, the registration of diesel vehicles with a load capacity of under one metric ton has been prohibited, so today's cars all run on petrol and ethanol. Bosch developed FlexFuel technology especially for the Brazilian market to allow vehicles to run on either type of fuel, or any mixture of the two. Given the huge distances in Brazil, the world's fifth-largest country by area, diesel-powered cars would make an excellent alternative.

Commercial diesel vehicles: Two figures show how important truck haulage is in Brazil: around half of the total amount of fuel used on the country's roads is diesel. And in 2013 the market for trucks over six metric tonnes totaled over 140,000 vehicles – equal to the volume of the US market. Bosch technology can be found in four out of five trucks and buses in Brazil. What's more, the German component supplier is developing dual-fuel systems in the south of the country that offer a unique solution for commercial vehicles, allowing their diesel engines to be run even when CNG or ethanol is added.

FlexFuel: This combination of petrol and ethanol was developed by Bosch specifically for the Brazilian market. The system’s distinctive feature is that the exact mixture is variable. Today, around 90 percent of all passenger cars in Brazil are equipped with this flexible fuel technology. In 2013, the 20-millionth vehicle featuring this technology was manufactured in Brazil. Other important markets for FlexFuel vehicles are the US, Canada and Mexico.

Outlook: In the next few years, the market for advanced vehicle technology in Brazil will continue to grow. A large part of the country's heavy-goods fleet is obsolescent and can no longer meet the growing needs of Brazil's economy. What's more, the fact that Brazil is in the process of introducing the Euro 5 emission standard for heavy-goods vehicles presents an additional technological challenge. Bosch already offers solutions that stay within these limits. Should the ban on diesel engines for cars be overturned, that market holds the promise of further growth.
"The Brazilian government has traditionally banned diesel engines in cars as a way of avoiding imports of fuel. But these days the country is in a position to be self-sufficient, and we are assuming that car drivers will soon be allowed to opt for diesel as well," says
Dr Markus Heyn, president of the Diesel Systems division of Robert Bosch GmbH.

Text and images courtesy: Bosch