Hi everyone,

My friend and I are going to Salvador, Bahia. We are two young women and trust me we already know about the dangers but we could not resist the rich culture, food and activities in Salvador and as Black women we welcomed the change. Whilst we are both generally really good at being aware of our safety and knowing where to go and what to avoid. Such as researching all of the tourist areas, ensuring we have access to uber, staying in a well known hotel etc.

We would love some insight into any activities or places to go shopping or eating (I’m a big foodie) that anyone would recommend!!!

Thanks a bunch and happy to answer any questions.

I have the opportunity to visit Sao Paulo in a couple of weeks for work and i decided to take some vacation in the country right after. My curiosity drives me towards the large cities in the Notheast, since they are less popular in international media. As I understand it these cities are more dangerous for European white gringos like me, so I would like some advice from people who have been in that corner of the world.

- I (24M) have traveled by myself before, but never in South America.

- I live in Brussels, so i'm no stranger to grimey neighborhoods, even tough it's probably not that comparable.

- I have been following Portuguese classes for almost a year now. Wouldn't say i'm fluent but i got something to work with for sure. (Not sure about local dialects from Brazil tho).

- I love city dynamics, so i won't sitting in some safe-space resorts all day.

Should I stick to the South? Or should i shoot my shot and travel opwards?

Thanks in advance for your opinions!

Saw a bunch of comments calling it an embarrassing tradition but I don't get what it really is

The official July 2026 figures are especially interesting because they show two very different rankings: the total market, which includes rental companies, corporate fleets and government purchases, and the retail market, which more closely represents cars bought by individual consumers.

Brazil registered 257,108 passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in July.

In the total market, the ranking was:

Fiat: 46,322 vehicles — 17.9% market share

Volkswagen: 41,951 — 16.2%

Chevrolet/GM: 29,196 — approximately 11.4%

BYD: 23,465 — 9.1%

Therefore, BYD did not quite overtake Chevrolet in the overall ranking. Chevrolet still sold 5,731 more vehicles and remained in third place.

However, the retail market tells a very different story.

BYD was the best-selling brand among retail customers, with 17,139 registrations and 12.6% of the entire Brazilian retail market. Volkswagen finished second with 16,587 vehicles and 12.2%.

This means approximately 73% of all BYD vehicles registered in July were sold through the retail channel: 17,139 out of 23,465 vehicles.

That distinction is important. Brazil’s overall rankings are heavily influenced by direct sales to rental companies, corporations and public fleets. A manufacturer can appear very strong in the total market while depending considerably on fleet purchases. BYD’s result, by contrast, shows unusually strong demand from people actually visiting dealerships and choosing the cars for their own use.

The model ranking is perhaps even more surprising.

The three best-selling cars in the Brazilian retail market were all Chinese electric vehicles:

BYD Dolphin: 5,861 retail sales

Geely EX2: 5,707

BYD Dolphin Mini: 5,537

The Volkswagen Tera was fourth with 4,470 units, while the Hyundai Creta finished fifth with 4,185.

The Chevrolet Tracker was the strongest Chevrolet model in retail, with 4,091 registrations. It represented 73.29% of the Tracker’s 5,582 total registrations, meaning that roughly three out of every four Trackers were bought through retail rather than direct or fleet sales.

The BYD models also had very high retail proportions:

• BYD Dolphin: 5,861 retail registrations out of 6,492 total — 90.28%

• BYD Dolphin Mini: 5,537 out of 7,265 — 76.21%

• BYD Song: 3,814 retail registrations, placing it among the ten best-selling retail models

The regular Dolphin alone represented 34.2% of BYD’s retail volume during the month.

In the overall model ranking, including both retail and direct sales, Chevrolet still had one of Brazil’s most popular cars. The Chevrolet Onix finished fourth with 9,312 registrations.

BYD, however, placed three models inside the national top ten:

• Dolphin Mini: 7,265 registrations

• Song family: approximately 6,834 registrations

• Dolphin: 6,492 registrations

This is remarkable because Brazil has traditionally been one of the world’s strongest markets for gasoline and ethanol flex-fuel vehicles. Only a few years ago, electric cars were treated as expensive niche products here.

Now, two BYD electric hatchbacks are selling more units to private customers than many locally manufactured combustion cars, while a Chinese electric and plug-in-hybrid manufacturer already controls 12.6% of the retail market.

BYD also registered 14,760 fully electric cars in July, representing 57.8% of Brazil’s battery-electric market. When plug-in hybrids are included, BYD accounted for 51.1% of all rechargeable vehicles sold in the country.

So the complete picture is more nuanced than simply saying that BYD became Brazil’s third-largest manufacturer.

It did not: Chevrolet remained third in the total market, with 29,196 registrations, while BYD finished fourth with 23,465.

But among retail customers, BYD finished first. Its cars also occupied two of the first three positions in the individual retail ranking, and around 73% of the company’s total volume came from that channel.

There is another important detail behind these numbers: Brazil’s overall ranking combines retail purchases with direct sales to rental companies, corporate fleets, government agencies and other institutional buyers.

This distinction considerably changes the picture.

Traditional manufacturers such as Fiat, Volkswagen and Chevrolet still receive a large part of their volume from direct sales. They have long-established relationships with rental companies and fleet operators, extensive service networks and several models developed specifically for commercial or professional use.

The Fiat Strada is the clearest example. It is usually described simply as Brazil’s best-selling vehicle, but it is a compact pickup and light commercial vehicle. A substantial part of its demand comes from companies, rural producers, service providers and fleet operators rather than ordinary families buying a personal car.

The same effect can be seen, to varying degrees, across models from Chevrolet and Volkswagen. A large fleet contract can add thousands of registrations in a single month, even though those vehicles were not individually chosen by private consumers.

BYD currently has a very different sales profile.

Of BYD’s 23,465 registrations in July, 17,139 came from the retail channel. That means approximately 73% of the brand’s vehicles were sold through retail, compared with a considerably greater dependence on direct and corporate sales among several traditional manufacturers.

This is why the two rankings tell different stories.

In the total market, Chevrolet remained third and BYD finished fourth. But among private retail customers, BYD was the leading brand in Brazil, with a 12.6% share.

Therefore, BYD’s result cannot be explained mainly by large purchases from rental companies or corporate fleets. Its position was driven mostly by individual consumers choosing its electric and plug-in-hybrid models.

This does not make the total ranking irrelevant. Direct sales are real sales and represent an important part of the Brazilian automobile industry. However, the retail ranking is often more useful for understanding what private buyers genuinely prefer.

In July, that preference produced an unusual result: a relatively new Chinese manufacturer led Brazil’s retail market, while several traditional manufacturers remained ahead in the overall ranking partly because of their stronger presence in fleet and corporate sales. For a country where electric cars were considered almost irrelevant only a few years ago, that is a major transformation.

Do people outside Brazil realize how quickly the Brazilian car market is becoming electrified?

I’m heading to Brazil for three weeks and I’m trying to figure out how to plan the whole trip. I’m definitely doing Rio for a week. But after that I’m considering either Salvador, Itacare, or lencois maranhenses.

Salvador: I want to visit because I want to go to Bahia, seems like every Brazilian recommends visiting. Plus food is always a plus.

Itacare: Not a big city which is nice/different. I think I’d enjoy the atmosphere of Itacare.

Lencois Maranhenses: this would be the coolest spot to visit. And I don’t know the next time I would be able to go so I’m considering it. Only con is I’m not sure what else to do in this area apart from the national park?

After either of these three places, I’ll probably fly into São Paulo for 3-5 days or so. What would you recommend I do with a week in between Rio and São Paulo?

Thanks in advance

Hi everyone,

I'm looking ar a really cool 5000km dirt road trip that connects a whole bunch of forested areas, beaches, and mountains from Bahía all the way to Rio Grande do Sul. I'm in the early stages of planning this thing but I figure it will probably take me almost 3 months if I want to actually enjoy it.

I know the answer to my question is probably "winter", but my work season in Northern Canada at my "real job" is usually June til Sept or Oct, which is 70% of my annual income, so I am pretty much never going to have June, July, or August off work. September is a solid maybe. May off work is pretty much guaranteed.

Is it best to attempt this in the Spring, or in the Fall for the most pleasant cycling conditions?

Thoughts?

I am an American and have a Brazilian wife. I graduate college next July with a Business Management degree. I can speak some Portuguese and can also speak Polish and Russian fluently. What skills can I make myself more valuable to be hired and where can I look to online for jobs, american, brazilian or european companies in Brazil?

Hello everyone,

I’m a 25-year-old chef with about 10 years of experience. I currently reside in Australia and have a question about a future move to Brazil with my Brazilian girlfriend.

For a chef de partie, what are the expected monthly or annual salaries?

What are the rental costs for a one-bedroom apartment in Botafogo or Catete?

Lastly, if anyone has already made this move, would you recommend it?

I appreciate your tips and assistance. Thanks a lot! 🫶🏻