RPT-UPDATE 1-Brazil auto sales down, ending 4-month streak

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*April sales down 13.7 percent; output falls 6.9 pct.

*Fiat leads sales in April.

*Impact of tax break could be fading.

SAO PAULO, May 8 (Reuters) - Automobile sales in Brazil fell 13.7 percent in April from the previous month as consumer demand waned after four straight months of gains, the national automakers' association Anfavea said on Friday.

Sales also fell 10.3 percent from April 2008 to 234,400, Anfavea said. Automobile output dropped 6.9 percent month-on-month in April and was down 15.8 percent from a year earlier to 254,700 units.

Four months of rising car sales had fueled hopes that Latin America's biggest auto industry could already be over the worst of the global crisis, even as makers elsewhere face plunging demand.

Sales had jumped 36.2 percent in March from the previous month, the fourth straight rise, and production had soared 34.2 percent, helped by government tax breaks that have allowed dealers to lower consumer prices.

Brazil, Latin America's largest economy, is a major market for global automakers such as Italy's Fiat (FIA.MI: Quote, Profile, Research), Germany's Volkswagen AG (VOWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), U.S.-based General Motors Corp GM.N and Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research). Asian and French manufacturers are also increasingly relying on Brazil to offset slumping sales at home.