Armoured cars see $660 million boom in Brazil after robberies

Sales of bulletproof vehicles are at an all-time high as the middle class seeks protection against increasingly visible violent crime, writes Leonardo Lara from São Paulo

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A worker inspects the interior of a vehicle at Carbon.

The scene is harrowing. In the dark of night, a compact Jeep is caught in slow traffic on a residential street in Rio de Janeiro. Two men on a motorbike pull up next to the SUV; one hops off, lifts up a gun and points it at the driver.

In Brazil, these types of videos are everywhere, a mainstay of news shows, neighbourhood group chats and local Instagram accounts. They're clipped from security cameras that capture the violent encounters when men ambush cars stuck in gridlock or stopped at lights and rob their occupants of cash, mobile phones and jewellery.

But this video was different. The driver and her son were in an armoured car, fortified against bullets. Instead of handing over her purse and mobile phone, she turns the wheel and smashes directly into the attackers. In an instant, the men are knocked over and trapped under the SUV along with their motorbike, stuck waiting for the police to haul them away.

The high-stakes counterattack and similar stories are prompting Brazilians to buy armoured cars at a record clip as residents of Rio, São Paulo and other cities look to protect themselves against increasingly visible violent crime. As the videos stoke anxiety, middle-and upper-class Brazilians see car armouring as an essential layer of defence beyond the walls, cameras and fences that already guard their homes.

Brazil is now the world's top armoured car producer, making four times as many units as No. 2 Mexico. The business is worth 3.5 billion reais ($660 million) a year, with output forecast to climb by a third in just two years as prices drop.