GM to produce cars it would bring from the USA and Mexico in Brazil
O Estado de S. Paulo 02/04/2009
With the high of the US Dollar rate compared to the Brazilian Real, General Motors is studying the possibility of producing three cars it would import from Mexico and the United States in Brazil. One of them is a small-sized SUV to fight the market with Ford EcoSport, mainly. That model should be included in the Viva project, a family of cars whose first member, a compact, will be launched in the second half of the year. The CEO of GM do Brasil, Jaime Ardila, says that "he is evaluating the possibility of producing at least three models they previously considered importing here". According to him the more-than-US$ 2 Real cost is competitive for both exports and local production, replacing imports. The SUV segment, Ardila recalls, is appropriated for Brazil, but most of the available models are imported. Another item that may be nationalized is the Ecotec engine which equips the new version of the Captiva, imported from Mexico. "It is an economic and ecological engine that has good performance", he says. "If we have the chance to adapt it to the flex technology, we might do it." Besides favoring the local production, Ardila considers the best incentive for exports is the competitive exchange rate. For him, should the exchange rate remain at the current levels, Brazil will recover the external competitiveness and, when the international conditions get better, the company will be ready to return to markets it lost. The executive expects, for the second quarter, the visit of the GM international CEO, Rick Wagoner, who should announce the release of part of an investment of US$ 1 billion requested by the branch. Everything will be financed with our own funds, he says, but part of it by means of the BNDES. "We do not need help from the USA". The international headquarter, however, needs to approve of the project.