Brazil to be international platform for Dayco
Valor Econômico
The American Dayco Power Transmission, one of the largest manufacturers of automotive belts, chose Brazil as a platform for the global production of parts intended for the aftermarket. The plant inaugurated yesterday in the city of São Paulo, with investments of US$ 5 million, will produce tensioners and pulleys that will cater to the Latin American, European and American aftermarkets. The unit is the first of the company, in the world, intended exclusively for the production of parts that will be sold on the aftermarket.
In the first year of operation, the unit should produce 1.4 million components. In 2012, the volume should jump to 2 million parts and, in the following year, get to 4 million units. To do that, another US$ 5 million will be invested in the coming years in the unit. "At first, our focus is on the Brazilian market", said the Managing Director OEM (makers) and Aftermarket of Dayco in Brazil, Ronaldo Teffeha. "With the increase in the capacity, we will export to Dayco in other countries".
According to Teffeha, among the factors that influenced on the decision of investing in the new plant, stands out the strong growth of the car industry in the country, and thus, of the aftermarket. "Brazil is already one of the largest markets in the world and it has strong growth potential in the coming years as the fleet gets bigger". Today, the Brazilian fleet has nearly 30 million vehicles and both the production and the sales of cars have broken consecutive records. Besides allowing Dayco to keep up with the growth of the demand, the new plant will allow the company to increase the portfolio in the country. "Without the plant, we had to import a part of the components offered in the aftermarket", said the Director.
Another impact will be visible in the composition of the earnings of the company in the country. Currently, nearly 50% of the earnings originates in the sales to the makers (OEM) and the other half in the aftermarket. "Replacement of parts should grow to 60%", he said. In the fiscal year ending this month, Dayco may have earned R$ 130 million (US$ 73.9 million) in country, compared to R$ 100 million (US$ 50.8 million) in the prior year - it already operated a plant in Minas Gerais. In the world, it registered earnings of US$ 1.3 billion in 2009.