Electric and hybrid cars are already 1 in 6 cars sold in Brazil; see the July ranking

The Brazilian light automobile market closed July 2026 with 265,148 registrations, up 2.1% over June and 15% over the same period last year. And the month left a milestone: electrified cars — adding up to 100% electric, hybrids and plug-in hybrids — accounted for at least 17% of everything registered in the country. In practice, almost 1 in 6 new cars that hit the streets in July had some degree of electrification.

The 100% electric ones alone totaled about 24 thousand units, equivalent to 9% of the market – a level that two years ago seemed distant. And the photograph at the top of the ranking translates this advance: three electric cars, all Chinese, appear among the ten best sellers in Brazil. The BYD Dolphin Mini was sixth overall, with 7,265 registrations, even surpassing the Volkswagen T-Cross (7,070), which plummeted from June’s lead among SUVs to seventh position. The BYD Dolphin comes in eighth (6,492) and the Geely EX2 in ninth (5,898), ahead of the Hyundai Creta.

Among the hybrids, the highlight is the GWM Haval H6: with 5,533 units, the Great Wall SUV reached the 13th position overall, its best result since launch. Right behind in the electrified cut come the BYD Song Pro (4,158) and the Jaecoo 7 (3,061), reinforcing that the Chinese offensive is not limited to pure electrics.

At the top of the overall table, nothing new: the Fiat Strada sold 14,912 units and remains in a lead that has already become routine, with more than 4,500 cars ahead of the second-placed Volkswagen Polo (10,340). The surprise is just below: the Volkswagen Tera took third place overall, with 10,165 units, consolidating the start of the compact SUV. Chevrolet Onix (9,313) and Fiat Argo (8,612) complete the top-5.

Among those that rose, Volkswagen Saveiro stood out, which added 2,186 more registrations than in June — the highest absolute growth of the month — and returned to the top-15. In the opposite direction, the T-Cross’s retreat was the most significant in absolute numbers: 4,683 units less. The Hyundai HB20, which had been competing for podium positions a few months ago, also melted and fell out of the top-30, with 3,037 registrations.

Check out the full list of the 30 best-selling cars of July 2026 below:

Who grew the most — and who fell the most

Outside the elite squad, July reserved significant variations. Considering only models with more than 100 registrations in June, the percentage growth champion was the GWM Ora 5: the electric SUV of GWM’s sub-brand jumped from 133 to 725 units — an increase of 445.1%. Next come the Hyundai i20 (+294.7%, from 676 to 2,668 units) and the BYD Sealion 7 (+197.2%, from 109 to 324).

The three cases have the same explanation: they are recent launches that gained commercial traction in July, with the end of the pre-sale phase and the arrival of volume at dealerships. The i20, in particular, is beginning to establish itself as Hyundai’s bet to reoccupy the space left by the fall of the HB20. Completing the top-5 of winners are MG4 (+98.9%) and GAC GS3 (+97.4%), also recent newcomers to the Brazilian market.

Check out the five models that grew the most in percentage from June to July:

At the other end, the biggest percentage drop was Aion ES, which plummeted 93.3% — from 104 to only 7 registrations. The Geely EX5 comes next, with a decline of 77.7% (from 1,450 to 324 units).

In both cases, the drop may be related to the lack of stocks. Aion and Geely import their cars from China, and the supply of the dealerships depends on batches that arrive by ship — when one batch is sold out and the next is still in transit, the registrations ‘dry up’ until the next shipment arrives.

It is a recurring pattern among brands that do not yet produce in Brazil, and which is usually reversed in the following months. In the case of the EX5, there is still an additional factor: the arrival of the EX5 EM-i hybrid version, which sold 1,236 units in July and may have absorbed part of the demand for the electric version.

The top-5 of the declines is completed by the Nissan Frontier (−72.4%), the Fiat Ducato (−58.6%) and the Chevrolet Spark (−56.7%).

Check out the five models that dropped the most from June to July: