48 According to a survey released in the first half of 2025 by Sindipeças (the National Union of Automotive Components Industries), the average age of Brazil’s truck fleet increased from 10 years to 12 years and 2 months between 2015 and 2024. Key factors behind the fleet’s advanced age include the high cost of acquiring new vehicles, high financing interest rates, and the absence of a long-term or permanent fleet renewal program. Sindipeças reports that the highest concentration of trucks falls within the 11- to 15-year age range, representing 29.7% of the fleet. Vehicles over 20 years old account for 13.3% of the total, according to the study, which is used to estimate the number of vehicles effectively in operation. This is due to the fact that the figures reported by the Ministry of Transport closely approximate the total number of vehicles registered in Brazil. In practice, few vehicles are properly deregistered with traffic authorities when they reach the end of their useful life or when their use is compromised by events such as accidents. According to the Ministry of Transport, Brazil had 4.2 million trucks in December 2025. However, the most recent Sindipeças study on the circulating fleet estimated 2.24 million vehicles (based on 2024 data). “The Sindipeças study is a statistical survey that uses vehicle registration data from the National Traffic Department (Senatran) and applies a scrappage model, resulting in estimates that are closer to reality,” says George Rugitsky, Director of Economics and Markets at Abipeças and Sindipeças. The executive believes that the update to be released in the first half of this year will keep the total close to the current 2.24 million units, as new truck sales in 2025 totaled fewer than 111,000 units, down 8.6% compared to the previous year. Rugitsky notes that the Circulating Fleet study has been conducted since 1960 and was created to serve Sindipeças’ member companies, “which needed a snapshot as close as possible to the fleet actually in circulation across the country.” Market evidence confirms an aging fleet Everton Fernandes, president of Fenauto – the National Federation of Associations of Automotive Vehicle Dealers – states that the highest concentration of trucks is found in the over-12-year age group. “The greatest turnover, in terms of the number of transfers, generally occurs among vehicles aged 6 to 12 years, as they are still in good operational condition, more affordable, and more accessible in terms of financing,” Fernandes explains. “For trucks older than 10 years, access to credit becomes more restricted, interest rates tend to be higher, and repayment terms are shorter due to the increased risk. Many financial institutions also limit financing or require larger down payments,” says the president of Fenauto. Support for fleet renewal Several entities advocate for fleet renewal programs, including the latest initiative, Move Brasil, which is expected to make R$ 10 billion available by the end of May to support the acquisition of new and used trucks up to 12 years old. According to Rugitsky, Sindipeças has been engaging with the government to advocate for measures that promote fleet renewal and vehicle inspection. He notes that the implementation of a permanent program grounded in ongoing vehicle technical inspections could help contain the growth in the proportion of trucks over 20 years old, whose share of the circulating fleet has risen by more than three percentage points in the past ten years. There is a clear market demand for measures that improve access to and affordability of newer or brand-new vehicles. So much so that half of the program’s total budget – R$ 5 billion, had already been disbursed by the beginning of March. Consequently, the president of Fenauto expects the program to have a rapid impact on the used truck market: “There is a cascading effect, whereby the sale of brandnew trucks drives demand for nearly new ones, which subsequently pulls up sales of older used vehicles.” Truth be told, that’s what the entire sector and production chain expect. Average truck age in Brazil exceeds 12 years High costs and the absence of fleet renewal programs are key factors behind the problem. Over 13% of the total fleet is more than 20 years old. FROTA | FLEET | FLOTA
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