Honda inaugurates New Research and Development Center in Brazil
Investment totaling R$100 million will increase the domestic content of vehicles
Investe São Paulo
Honda Automóveis do Brasil (HAB), confident in the potential of the automotive market in the country, inaugurates today (27), in the plant of Sumaré (SP), its new Research & Development Center. With investments of approximately R$ 100 million, the unit aims to allow the development of models that meet the specific demands of the Brazilian market, in addition to increase the domestic content of components and technologies. The facility begins its operations with approximately 300 employees who will work in the areas of Engineering, Procurement, Research & Development.
Since 2008, when it began the production of engines in Brazil, the company already had laboratories for engine tests on the premises of the factory in Sumaré. In the expansion, a new laboratory was built and equipped with two chassis dynamometers and a pollutant emissions system. The equipment will contribute to the development of components and engine and transmission systems, in addition to the performance of durability tests, measurement of emissions and consumption.
Other structures and equipment, such as the three-dimensional measurement system, which contributes to the development of components from the outside and inside of the vehicle, and the materials laboratory, which allows the validation of local raw materials and components, make the new R&D Center of Honda Automóveis one the main development centers of Honda products outside the route Japan/USA.
The new unit is in line with the global strategy of the brand of promoting the simultaneous development between the various regions of the world to offer consumers global products with local advantages.
As already experienced with the 2.0 FlexOne Civic, the Fit Twist and City Sport, the new models that will soon debut in the Brazilian market, such as the new Fit and City, in addition to the compact SUV, will include even more advantages in powertrain, suspension and new technologies for the Brazilian market that have been proposed and developed by the R&D Center in Sumaré.
“The decision to strengthen our R&D capacity reflects our commitment to offer products that meet the expectations of Brazilian consumers. Our goal is to increase the domestic content of the components over the next two years and develop new versions and specific models for our market,” says Luis Gazzola, General Manager of Research and Development of HAB.
Belief in Brazil
Honda believes on the realignment of its business in Brazil to accelerate the process of development, production and marketing of new products, with more competitive prices for Brazilian consumers. Honda Automóveis do Brasil Ltda. (HAB) announced last year the construction of a new automotive plant in the city of Itirapina, in the State of São Paulo, with production capacity of 120 thousand vehicles per year. The new plant is expected to start operating in 2015.
In 2013, the company also made two other important announcements. Aiming to accelerate the decision-making processes and thereby gain agility and competitiveness, Honda South America (HSA) has decided to concentrate on a single location, at the premises of the factory in Sumaré, the company’s board and all areas that are part of the business of HAB. Based on the overall concept of ‘one floor’, as used in the Japanese parent company, the project includes greater proximity between administrative and industrial operation areas.
In addition, the company also announced the construction of a wind farm in the city of Xangri-lá, in Rio Grande do Sul, which will supply all the energy demand of its first car factory. The initiative, unprecedented among car manufacturers present in the country, will also have an initial investment of R$ 100 million. Honda Energy do Brasil Ltda. was created for the wind farm operation, which will begin operations in September 2014.
About Honda in Brazil
Present in the country since 1971, when it started importing, and then producing motorcycles in Manaus (AM), Moto Honda da Amazônia Ltda. is currently the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the country, with over 19 million units produced. Since 2001, the company also produces in Manaus, models of stationary engines, in addition to selling generators, water pumps, brushcutters, lawn mowers and outboard motors imported from other units of the brand worldwide. In 1992, with the creation of Honda Automóveis do Brasil Ltda., the company entered the competitive Brazilian automotive market also through imports and, from 1997, with the national production of vehicles in the city of Sumaré (SP). In 2013, it announced its second car factory in Itirapina, São Paulo, scheduled to open in 2015. In an unprecedented initiative in the automotive segment in the country, the company started in the same year the construction of its first wind farm in the city of Xangri-lá, Rio Grande do Sul. Honda Energy do Brasil was created to manage the operations of the wind farm, which will supply all the energy demand of the plant in Sumaré. In the country, the group also includes Honda Financial Services, which comprises the National Consortium Honda, Honda Insurance Brokerage, Honda Leasing and Honda Bank that, through their presence at the authorized network across Brazil, facilitate customer access to the brand’s products.