Investment of US$ 1 billion is official
Valor Econômico
GM officialized yesterday an investment of R$ 2 billion (US$ 1 billion) in the country until 2012. Of that total, R$ 1.4 billion (nearly US$ 700 million) will be invested in the increase of the unit of the company in Gravataí, which will have its capacity increased from 230 thousand to 380 thousand cars a year. The other R$ 600 million (US$ 300 million) will be invested in the development of new products and engineering works in the other units of the maker in Brazil, in São Caetano do Sul, São José dos Campos and Mogi das Cruzes. According to the president of GM do Brasil, Jaime Ardila, the investment - half resulting from own resources and the other half from financing of public banks, such as Banrisul, Banco Regional de Desenvolvimento Econômico (BRDE) and the BNDES - will generate one thousand direct jobs.
This is the greatest investment of General Motors in Brazil in its 84 years of history and it takes place at a moment of global crisis of the headquarters in the USA. Ardila recalled that the Brazilian branch has administrative and financial autonomy in relation to the parent company. The executive said it has been three years since the subsidiary has received any aid from the headquarters. Ardila added that, for now, the remittance of profits to the USA will be suspended.
The investments include the "Onix project", which foresees the launching of a new line of cars with at least four models, said Ardila. Two of them will be manufactured in Gravataí and the decision on where the other ones will be assembled has not been taken yet. According to executive, the new cars manufactured in Rio Grande do Sul will be of small and medium size, "of high volume of production".