ZF considers building plant in Brazil
Gazeta Mercantil - 07/08/2008
Within two months ZF will define whether it will build a new plant in Brazil or expand the facilities of its main unit of Sorocaba, in the countryside of São Paulo. Due to the good performance in the Brazilian market and the perspective of increasing businesses abroad, the company decided to increase its investments in Brazil until 2011 - the previous plan was until 2010 - and increase the amount to be released, from R$ 540 million (US$ 337.5 million) to R$ 680 million (US$ 425 million). It is the greatest investment plan of the company in South America. From the total planned for the period, R$ 70 million (US$ 36.3 million) were already spent in 2007. "This year we will use R$ 300 million (US$ 187.5 million) and the rest will be used in 2009", declared Wilson Bricio, president of ZF in South America. ZF will allocate 50% of the investments in the line of transmissions for commercial vehicles. This year the company starts increasing the production of transmissions in Brazil. For the market of light commercial vehicles (pickup trucks and vans) ZF is developing a new model of transmissions. The company's expectation is to produce 85 thousand units of such component after 2009. For the market of trucks the production of 35 thousand units is expected. According to Bricio, in order to be competitive in the Brazilian market and keeping the volumes as the demand of the clients in the Country, the ZF group in Germany chose Brazil to install its second center for the development and production of transmissions. With an expressive share in the Brazilian market of trucks and buses, ZF do Brasil already registered growth of 25% of its businesses in the first half of the year and Bricio's forecast is to end 2008 with a 30% expansion. ZF is also increasing its participation in the foreign market. In 2007 exportations contributed with 19% to the sales of the company, which amounted to R$ 1.5 billion (US$ 777.2 million). For 2012, Bricio's forecast is that foreign sales should reach 29% of participation in the result of the company.