Mercedes-Benz see improvement until the end of 2015

Sao Paulo-the Mercedes-Benz is reorganizing its structure of production of trucks in Brazil, with the aim of increasing competitiveness. The German brand is optimistic, but says that the market should only experience an upturn by the end of 2015.
"The demand is there, but this sector is very volatile in Brazil. We need to prepare for a difficult 2015 ", said on Friday (10) the President of the Brazilian unit, Philipp Schiemer.
For automotive consulting analyst Arnaldo MSXI Brazil, there is a pent-up demand for trucks in the country, mainly by agribusiness. "The fall that the market has been experiencing over the past two years is just a hiccup. The Brazil is still very lacking in highways and forecasting record yields should boost sales of trucks again, "says the analyst.
Mercedes will transfer the production line Accelo light truck plant in Juiz de Fora (MG) to São Bernardo do Campo (SP) from 2016. In contrast, the area of paint booths of all lines of the ABC will be transferred to the mining town, which will remain with the line of extra-heavy Actros. "Our paint line in Juiz de Fora is State of the art, one of the most modern in the world," says Schiemer.
To reorganize the structure, the mark will invest $ 500 million (between 2015 and 2018) in São Bernardo and R $ 230 million in mining unit, additional investments to those which are already underway.
To perform the supply, Mercedes had to close a deal with the ABC's metal workers Union. "We will gain scale in Juiz de Fora and space in São Bernardo," says Schiemer. He points out that, with this, the costs are optimized, since paulista plant is strategically located in terms of logistics and suppliers.
Job
The President of Mercedes also ensured that the restructuring decision will not affect the level of employment in any of the plants. "This will only happen if the resumption of the market does not happen".
Today, approximately 170 employees are on lay-off scheme (temporary suspension of the contract) in Juiz de Fora and 1.2 thousand in São Bernardo. "We are discussing with the Union of ABC to find a way to circumvent the market's bearishness," highlights Schiemer.
The production of the Mercedes this year, should still be affected by Argentina, 90% of the exports target of the company. "We're selling to some other countries, but the amount is small. It's hard to recover so quickly, "says market.
With that, the German brand must have a 50% drop in exports in 2014, to about 4 thousand trucks.