GM will invest $ 6.5 billion in Brazil in five years

After a major negotiation with the Brazilian Government, which brought the top management at General Motors (GM) to the country, the automaker's Executive Chairman, Mary Teresa, Bar announced investments of r $ 6.5 billion in Brazil over the next five years. The Executive is not detailed, but as resources will be applied. The information was released in Brasilia, after a meeting between Mary Teresa and the President of the Republic, Dilma Rousseff.
"I'm not going to provide specific details, but anticipate that will be investments in new products, new technologies, efficiency, fuel economy and maintenance of our facilities," he said, in a press conference in the Presidential Palace, after meeting with Rousseff, according to news agencies.
A prior arrangement, in 2012, between GM of Brazil, municipality of São José dos Campos, São Paulo State Government and the Steelworkers Union local pointed the Vale do Paraíba region as the only place able to receive the new product of the company, the subcompact Jade. Resources, in the range of $ 2.5 billion, would be for renovation works and preparation of a new manufacturing line.
At the time, GM's institutional relations Director, Luiz Moan, had ensured that only the factory of São José dos Campos was in dispute, although it has, over time, said that investments could migrate to other places of practice.
According to the President of the Steelworkers Union, Antonio Ferreira de Barros, Moan said the announcement of the company's high command on Wednesday morning. "We have two agreements signed last year with the company for investments of r $ 500 million on a line of engines and transmissions and other r $ 2.5 billion in manufacturing a new car here. We already knew this meeting with President Dilma and let's make it count what was signed and disclosed to the society, "commented Barros.
One of the points of concern of the Steelworkers Union is exactly the lack of information about the fate of GM resources. The factory of São José dos Campos is without investments in new technologies and completely overrated compared the others. According to the GM, without new investments the complex of the Paraíba Valley would be closed.
Although it has not clarified what will be the fate of these resources, industry sources give for granted that a good part of the investments will go to the São Caetano do Sul unit that can house the production model Tracker. This factory has an effective more than 10 thousand employees. Units such as Joinville (SC) and Gravataí would be also contemplated. Mary Barra said, as the DCI had already anticipated in the first quarter, the new project will be a world model.
GM plans foresaw lead to production of the new car for Indonesia and Malaysia, since investments in the industrial complex in Korea came under risk with political crisis and threats of armed conflict with North Korea. The worsening economic crisis in the Asian countries did the direction GM world back again his attentions to its third largest market, Brazil, despite the minimal growth of 1.1% of its sales last year. Mary Bar pointed out that in the last five years the company invested r $ 5.7 billion in the country.
In March, the automaker decided to send to Brazil a Committee of top executives, including its President, Dan Ammann, to begin discussions with the Government on conditions for a possible contribution of capital in local factories, although it has still not been discarded close activities in South America until 2017. Ammann came to inform, at the time, that the lines of Chevrolet in Brazil follow global models, without exclusive cars on the domestic market.
IPI and Mary also Bar credit thanked the President Dilma Rousseff for the decision to keep the policy of reduction in the tax on industrialized products (IPI) of automobiles, which would end this year, and by improvements in credit conditions.
According to data collected by the Steelworkers, the federal Government has waived $ 11 billion with the IPI reduction on vehicles which entered into force on 2012. This policy will continue on course and would have been one of the fundamental requirements of General Motors to continue investing in the country, as well as also was traded to creation of special credit lines for the reheating of the Brazilian market of vehicles.