09/24/2008 15h48
Bosch studies expanding ABS brakes' plant in São Paulo
Valor Econômico - 09/24/2008
A little more than one year ago, Bosch announced Brazil's first plant of antiblocking braking systems - known as ABS brake. Now, the company thinks about expanding the unit's capacity, since it should close the year in the limit of its production. Installed in Campinas, in the interior of São Paulo, the Bosch factory of ABS brakes supplies the whole South America. In the total, the factory is able to produce up to 250 thousand braking systems of this kind per year. According to Carlo Gibran, marketing manager of the division of chassis control systems in Latin America, the rate of equipment installation in new vehicles in the country, based on the market behavior in the last years, can reach 40% in 2013, when the automotive industry foresees a production of 6 million units. "If we compare Brazil with countries with which we are always compared, the growth potential is clear. China, for example, already has a rate of installation of the ABS brakes at 64% of the new cars", affirms the executive. Last year, the rate of installation of the ABS brakes in the cars produced in Brazil was 15% and 13% in 2006. That two percent increase, according to Bosch's calculation, means an increase of 100 thousand units. For 2008, the forecast is that it should exceed 17%. According to the executive, the intention to increase its production in the country is a short- or mid-term project. The greater growth in use of the equipment is seen in average-sized vehicles, mainly sedans. Gibran emphasizes that, when produced in scale, the equipment does not have substantial impact on the final price of the car. To install the factory of ABS brakes in the country, Bosch invested nearly R$ 25 million (US$ 15.3 million). The inauguration of the unit happened in August last year and had the presence of Warner Struth, the executive that commands this division of Bosch all over the world. Besides the National market, there is a great possibility of growth in sales in Argentina, as the country published the law of road safety last April. In it, according to Gibran, there is the intention of making the ABS brakes a series item, as it occurs in the United States, in most of Europe and in Japan. "We believe that the same thing can be done in Brazil. The consumer is increasingly valuing safety items", he adds. The popularization of the antiblocking braking system was intensified at the end of the 1990's.
