Brazil’s rising imports of vehicles from China has been transforming Brazil’s auto market. Meantime, data from BPTO shows Chinese automakers has continued to expand patent footprint.

Brazil becomes a strategic market

From January to May 2026, Brazil became the world's largest importer of Chinese automobiles, with total imports of electrified and traditional vehicles reaching US$ 5.2 billion, a 146.9% increase compared to US$ 2.1 billion in the same period of the previous year, of which electrified vehicle imports accounted for US$ 4.5 billion. The trend had already emerged in 2024.

China ranks first in overseas automotive patent applications

In 2021, U.S. applicants accounted for 27% of non-resident automotive patent applications in Brazil, while China accounted for only 3%. However, by 2025, China's share had grown ninefold to 27%, becoming the largest foreign source of automotive patent applications; meanwhile, the U.S. share dropped to 16%.

Market competition will increasingly focus on technology, freedom to operate, patent licensing, and patent enforcement with intensifying efforts to expand patent presence.

Powertrains and energy technology become the main drivers of transform

From the perspective of enterprise, between 2021 and 2025, BYD ranked first among automotive companies with 174 patent applications, of which 135 involved powertrains and energy systems, surpassing Honda, Scania, Toyota, Stellantis, and Nissan.

Around 78% of BYD's automotive patent applications focus on batteries, charging technology, electric motors, power electronics, and thermal management, which can help companies differentiate their products, narrow competitors' design options, and strengthen their leverage in patent licensing and patent litigation.

Meanwhile, other Chinese automakers also saw their patent applications rise dramatically.

Market activity remains with changing landscape

However, the total number of patent applications have fluctuated: applications dropped from 1,742 in 2015 to 907 in 2020, rebounded to 1,066 in 2024, and stood at 853 in 2025.

AI brings new variables

Alongside changes in the technological landscape, AI-related patent applications in the automotive area grew from 6 in 2016 to 52 in 2022, fell back to 33 in 2024, and rebounded to 44 in 2025. However, Brazilian patent applications have an unpublished period of up to 18 months, so recent statistics may be underestimated.

Telecommunications companies, component suppliers, mobility platforms, and heavy equipment manufacturers are all applicants for automotive AI patents rather than only automakers. Modern vehicles are equipped with various sensors, processors, communication protocols, software, and machine learning systems.

Room for improvement of China's automotive AI patent applications

However, in this subsector, something has changed. In 2025, China accounted for 27% of all non-resident automotive patent applications in Brazil, but in non-resident automotive AI patent applications during 2024–2025, China accounted for only 8%, while the U.S. accounted for 33% and Sweden 16%.

Now, Chinese applicants' R&D focus may give priority to powertrains, batteries, and vehicle platform technologies; delays in patent publication can also affect statistics. In the future, as automakers advance localized operations and deploy connected services and driver assistance technologies, Brazil may see a second wave of patent applications from Chinese companies.

Localized production may follow imports

With the sales growth, automakers may propel localized production, build supply chain cooperation systems, and adapt products to local usage conditions.

Localized production, in turn, raises freedom-to-operate risks in the aspect of components, production processes, and supply chains. Connected services add software, data, and telecommunications-related intellectual property; charging networks and the battery industry ecosystem bring more issues in patent infrastructure. Once a company localizes its business for a long time, the importance of local Brazilian patents will become even more prominent.

From IPRdaily

August 28th, 2026