BMW maintains factory project in Brazil

BMW will keep volume and schedule of planned investment for the production in Araquari (SC). The underwhelming economic growth and the demonstrations that have taken over the streets since June have not changed the plans of the German automaker in Brazil, according to the Director of government relations, Richie Souza. The expectation is that the first vehicles are manufactured in September 2014, with the foundation stone released in November.
"Brazil is a market that is worth being", Richie said, adding that the automaker "is not in the country of transit". The Executive spoke to the value in New York City, in presenting the BMW i3, the first electric car to be produced in series by the company. The vehicle must get to Brazil in the second half of 2014.
The company will invest € 200 million in the plant in the State of Santa Catarina, which will allow the production of 32 thousand vehicles per year. So far, BMW did not announce what cars will be manufactured in Brazil. Today, the best-selling vehicles in the country are the 1 series, 3 series and X 1. Will be hired from 1.1 to 1.2 thousand employees, and there is the possibility that, in the future, the company export cars produced in Brazil to other South American countries, said Mano.
According to Richie, the investment plan is not based on current situation. "We are looking forward and also analyzing a situation that comes back there," he said. Richie noted that the Brazilian market presents an expansion trend for years. "There are a few moments of fall, but the trajectory is ever-growing."
And demonstrations, concern the automaker? "It's Not. It is an important moment for Brazil, which has to be respected. But does not affect in any way our investment plan. " According to her, the 2014 elections approach either changes the project of the company.
Vehicles imported or produced in Brazil with low content of national components came to pay, since the end of 2011, IPI 30 percentage points higher, the new automotive system. Each company enabled the new regime has the right to an annual quota of 4.8 million vehicles without extra charge. Investments in the country are entitled to additional quotas. BMW, which sold 10.7 thousand vehicles in Brazil in 2012, expects the number to reach more than 15 thousand this year. The decision to produce in the country predates the new automotive system, said Richie, who the study for the factory started in 2010. With the Innovative Auto, it was necessary to reassess the plans, to adapt them to the new requirements.
There is no definition of the price of the i3, which had its world presentation yesterday in New York, London and Beijing. Manufactured in Leipzig, in Germany, the compact vehicle must reach the European market in November and the American in the second quarter of 2014. In Germany, the i3 will cost just under £ 35,000. In the us, a little more than $ 41 billion, without considering the incentives for electric car, which can reach $ 7.5 mil.
The price in Brazil depends on what will be the tax treatment given to electric vehicles in the country, said Carlos Cortes, sales and marketing manager of the BMWi subtag in Brazil. Today, they fall into the classification "other vehicles", which pay 25% of IPI. He recalled that the National Association of Automotive vehicle manufacturers (Anfavea) presented a proposal to the Government for electric cars, hybrids and fuel cell powered can enjoy tax advantages. Estimates of the volumes to be sold will depend on the price, he said. Another factor that will influence on price is the issue of free import quotas of IPI.
In the presentation, the Chief Executive of BMW Group, Norbert Reithofer, said that the launching of the i3 is an important chapter of sustainable urban mobility. It is a fairly light electric car, he said, made up largely of carbon fibre with aluminium chassis.