Automotive Logistics South America was held from May 19 to 20 at the Intercontinental Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Key senior automotive logistics executives gathered to debate the key issues facing the South America logistics arena, exploring solutions to overcome the obstacles often found within the industry, with an emphasis on promoting networking and collaboration.

Many delegates have testified that they found the Automotive Logistics South America conference beneficial, interesting and enjoyable.

We are still confirming dates and venues for next year and will make a decision soon after carefully evaluating the feedback from this year's conference.

In the meantime, if you would like us to keep you updated about our conferences, please click here.

The leading automotive logistics conference in South America

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SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - Delegates at the Automotive Logistics South America conference on May 19-20 in Sao Paulo warned that a fast acceleration in Brazil's vehicles sales could slam into a logistics blackout as the country's lagging infrastructure struggles to cope. OEMs, Tier Ones and LSPs warned that Brazil's inadequate infrastructure could stall the automotive sector's growth once the global recession recedes.

Brazil, the world's fifth largest auto market, faced plummeting sales at the end of last year, but has since witnessed a recovery in 2009. According to Johnny Saldanha, VP Global Purchasing & Supply Latin America, Africa and Middle East for General Motors, Brazil managed to keep sales steady this year despite the global recession. "On May 15th last year Brazil had sold around one million vehicles and by May 15th this year the figure was the same," he told delegates at the conference. "Looking [at other countries] around the globe this is good news," he added.

In Saldanha's opinion, Brazil's government has managed to buoy sales with temporary reduction of the IPI industrial production tax until June. As a result, General Motors estimates that Brazil is likely to sell up to 2.7m new cars if the tax reduction continues or 2.1m cars if the reduction is removed after June.

Ford's Edson Molina, Materials Planning and Logistics Director in South America, added if the IPI tax reduction disappears sales will fall. But overall Ford sees the Brazilian auto market as stable. The US carmaker is continuing to invest in capacity and infrastructure to guarantee deliveries and to support sales and marketing, Molina said on the sidelines of the conference.

Davi Lunardi, Supply Chain Director at truck and busmaker Iveco Latin America, warned that the IPI tax reduction is unlikely to continue after June. This will have less impact on trucks sales as buyers usually prioritise issues such as the quality of service, he said. As a result, Brazil's domestic truck sales should remain robust at around 100,000 vehicles this year. But Lunardi warned that exports may drop to 10,000-20,000 vehicles this year because of the economic slowdown with neighbours such as Argentina, as well as the Venezuelan government cutting imports to virtually zero, he told delegates.

Still, Lunardi sees opportunities to spur trucks sales. Brazil's truck fleet is on average eight-years old and new sales should really start in 2010, he predicts. The restrictions on lorries more than 3.5 metric tonnes in Sao Paulo is forcing many companies to switch to smaller delivery trucks, he said.

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