Motorola increases production line in the interior of SP
Valor Econômico
It feels like a rerun, but it is another step Motorola takes towards its expansion in Brazil beyond mobile telephones. This month, the company begins producing digital mobile radios - the communication equipment that equip the police cars - in its plant in Jaguariúna. It is the ninth product line installed in the unit since its creation, in 1996, and the fourth in the last 18 months. The first batch of mobile radios, with 300 pieces of equipment, will be delivered to the Government of Espírito Santo in January.
According to Eduardo Stéfano, Vice President of mobility for the Government and companies of Motorola, the local production, which was already foreseen in the budget of the plant for 2009, will reduce by half the time of delivery of the products and by nearly 35% its price in Dollar. Last year, Motorola started the production of the portable communication radios used by policemen.
In an interview to Valor in September, the Co-CEO of Motorola, Greg Brown, responsible for the mobility businesses for the Government, companies and domestic networks, had already placed the area of public security as one of the main targets of the company in Brazil, with an eye on the investments that will be made for the holding of the FIFA® Soccer World Cup in 2014, and the Summer Olympics, in 2016. In practice, the local production of mobile radios means a "shielding" of a market in which Motorola is already present in 16 States.
Since none of the suppliers of this kind of equipment had production in Brazil so far, the purchases were usually made in international tenders, where companies from all over the world are allowed to participate. Producing locally, Motorola opens the possibility for such purchases to be made by looking at the internal market. This way, if a foreign manufacturer wants to take part in the bidding procedures, it will have to pay all the taxes incurring on the national manufacturer, which ends up making its product more expensive and gives Motorola better conditions to come out as the winner. Stéfano believes, however, that other manufacturers will also make investments to produce in Brazil, for that is the rule of the game.