New Toyota plant in Sorocaba attracts 12 auto parts suppliers
O Estado de S. Paulo 09/07/10
The arrival of Toyota, first maker to be installed in Sorocaba, 92 km from São Paulo, will cause major transformation in the profile of the city. Besides investing R$ 1 billion (US$ 571.4 million) in its unit, the Japanese automaker will bring 12 other manufacturers of components and service suppliers. The area is located on the left margin of the Castelo Branco Highway, which connects the capital to the West of the State. In the same site, the city hall and the State Government have begun putting up a high-tech hub for company incubators, laboratories and extensions of universities. With the real estate and commercial launchings planned for the region, within five years the urban area will increase 10 kilometers, reaching the margin of the highway.The production of cars will start in 2012, according to the forecast of Toyota. In the initial phase, 70 thousand cars will be made a year, but, according to Mayor Vitor Lippi, the company intends to gradually enlarge the plant until the installed capacity of 400 thousand vehicles is achieved. The company shall initially hire 1,500 employees. Lippi estimates the generation of another 5 thousand indirect jobs. Toyota will be installed in the North side, most populous region of the city and the only with growth potential. In the 1990s, it concentrated real estate developments to cater to low-income residents. Occupation quickened in the past ten years. The city government estimates 200 thousand people live in the 260 neighborhoods.
Since the Japanese maker put up the work site, in August last year, the price of land doubled, according to realtor Francisco Ávilla. The arrival of the closed average and high standard condominiums, according to him, has contributed for the real estate valuation, a phenomenon that has end up spreading throughout the city. The Managing Officer of the Real Estate Management Association (Secovi) in Sorocaba, Flávio Amary, believes the free areas in the surroundings of Toyota will be occupied by multilevel real estate undertakings to cater both employees of the assembly lines, and service providers, technicians and executives. "In such process, the region should attract the retail and, with it, bank offices and other services."
Two shopping malls have taken a step ahead - one of them, the Plaza Shopping Itavuvu, will have 200 stores, a hypermarket, movie theaters and parking for 1.5 thousand vehicles. The company Proactiva has installed an environmental management center in the area nearby, licensed to receive industrial waste. The Brazilian National Service of Industrial Learning (Senai) will erect a school for one thousand students. The building, in a 24-thousand-meter piece of land donated by the city hall, starts operating with Toyota. The City Government has announced the extension and duplication of Avenida Itavuvu, one of the main avenues of the North side, up to Castelo Branco highway. The plan is to build a bike route along the street - the city already has 65 kilometers of such kind of road.
The State Government took over the construction of overpasses and roads of access from the highway to the plant, an R$ 80 million (US$ 45.7 million) work. The municipality already invests R$ 150 million (US$ 85.7 million) in the construction of 33 kilometers of avenues to improve traffic. The region should receive four of the eight schools that will be built by 2012 for 15 thousand students in basic education.