With support from Investe SP, John Deere inaugurates two new plants in the State
Investment of US$ 180 million centralizes headquarters of Latin America in Indaiatuba and generates 600 new jobs
Investe São Paulo
John Deere, a leading producer of agricultural machinery in the world, inaugurated on Tuesday, February 11, in Indaiatuba, its first machinery plants for the construction industry in Brazil.The state governor Geraldo Alckmin and president of Investe São Paulo, Luciano Almeida, attended the opening ceremony.
“A development facility that generates jobs and construction for our progress. Indaiatuba wins, it is the best for São Paulo and Brazil,” said the governor.
One of the projects is being conducted in partnership with the Japanese company Hitachi, for the production of excavators.The other plant, fully funded by John Deere, produces backhoe loaders and four-wheel loaders.
Approximately R$ 180 million was invested in the project, US$ 124 of which by Deere and the rest by Hitachi.The transaction also included the transfer of the company’s headquarters from Porto Alegre to Indaiatuba.In total, 600 employees were hired for the project.
“For us, it makes us greatly proud to enter this new segment of construction machinery, taking that same modern technology to the sector and contributing to the growth of one of the world’s major economies.Investe SP provides an important support in the consolidation of this project,” said Alfredo Miguel Neto, director of corporate relations of John Deere in Latin America.
“We competed with Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais, Paraná and Rio de Janeiro for the investment, but we know that São Paulo was chosen for having a strategic geographic location within the Latin American continent, providing excellent infrastructure and the best conditions for the production flow,” says Luciano Almeida.
Investe São Paulo provided assistance to John Deere in the search for the best location for the investment, and in tax issues and in the environmental licensing process.The agency also assisted in the dialogue between the company and the public utilities for obtaining the infrastructure.
Production growth in the construction sector in Brazil, especially with the works related to events such as the World Cup and the Olympics, also influenced the decision to start the production of this new modality. Until then, the presence of John Deere in Brazil was limited only to machinery for farming.
According to Michael Mack, global president of the Construction and Forestry division of John Deere, Brazil offers broad opportunities for the sector.“The potential of investments in infrastructure is very high in the country, which makes us confident in the success of this project,” he says.“John Deere has been reporting a significant growth in Latin America over the past few years and the opening of the plants is another great achievement for us.”
According to Michijiro Kikawa, chairman of the Board of Hitachi Construction Machinery Corporation, the success of the business lies in the high technology of the products and the alignment of teams.“The opening represents a major breakthrough to our operations in Brazil.John Deere and Hitachi have a solid partnership, which places us ahead in the market of hydraulic excavators.”
With over 60 years of experience in the segment, John Deere announced its entry in the construction industry in the country in 2011. Since then, it has established a strong network of distributors that currently covers approximately 90% of the Brazilian market.The states of Pará, Tocantins, Amazonas, Roraima, Acre and Amapá are served by Deltamaq, and state of São Paulo and the Northeast region are served by Mega Máquinas.Tauron Equipamentos is responsible for the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul and Inova Máquinas is responsible for Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo.
The models that will be progressively produced by the exclusive plant of John Deere are the backhoe loader 310K and the loaders 524K, 544K, 624K, 644K and 724K.At the plant in partnership with Hitachi will produce the excavators 160G, 180G, 210G, 250G, 350G – of Deere - and the excavators ZX160, ZX180, ZX210, ZX250 and ZX350 – of Hitachi.In addition, John Deere will keep importing three models of bulldozers and two models of motor graders.