Fiat Builds in Brazil Latin America’s Largest Auto Engine Maker

Fiat Brazil factory in Betim, Minas Gerais state Fiat Group is investing 250 million Brazilian reais (US$ 147 million) in the city of Campo Largo, in the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba, in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná. Part of the funds have been invested in the acquisition of the Tritec Motors factory, based in the city, which had ended its activities in July 2007.

The objective is to make the Campo Largo unit the largest producer of vehicle engines in Latin America, revealed Franco Ciranni, superintendent of Fiat Power Technologies (FPT).

The announcement of the acquisition of the Tritec Motors plant and of expansion of the factory was made on Wednesday (12). Apart from Ciranni, the ceremony also included the vice president of Fiat for Brazil, Valentino Rizzioli, and the governor of the state of Paraná, Roberto Requião.

The new Fiat unit in the country is going to produce engines for the domestic and foreign markets. They will be used both in vehicles made by the Italian carmaker and in those of other brands. Apart from the purchase of Tritec, funds should also be turned to the development of new engines and technologies, to the increase of productive capacity and in employee training.

With the plant in Campo Largo, Fiat group now have four engine factories in Brazil, producing 700,000 units a year. The target is to almost double production by 2010, to 1.2 million engines, said Ciranni.

"We are not just purchasing the plot of land and the industrial unit. We are going to develop new families of engines, to invest in technology, in training and in quality of our produce. The factory in Campo Largo should be the main producer of engines in Latin America and the most competitive on a global scale," stated the director at FPT.

According to the executive, in coming days a plan for reactivation of the factory should be established. The forecast is for the machines to start operating again up to the end of the year and, in early 2009, for the unit to start producing engines again. The Fiat investment schedule in the new unit forecasts the creation of 500 direct jobs. Part of the openings should be filled by employees who were fired from Tritec Motors.

This is not the first Fiat investment in Paraná. In the 1990s, the Italian multinational purchased tractor factory New Holland, installed in the Industrial City of state capital Curitiba.

Omar Nasser works for the Federation of Industries of the State of Paraná.

Tags:

You May Also Like

Brazil: Record Profit at Petrobras and a Little Help from Arab Building Boom

Brazil’s state-controlled oil and gas multinational Petrobras has just announced that it posted a ...

Brazil Has Already Freed 16,407 Slave Workers

Brazil’s Ministry of Labor’s Special Mobile Inspection Group freed 79 workers from slave labor ...

Brazil Threatens Argentina with Sanctions in Response to Trade Barriers

Brazil is looking at restricting credit lines to Argentina in retaliation for its neighbor's ...

For This Brazilian Dairy Exporter, Crisis Spells Opportunity

Brazilian businessman Alfredo de Goeye, a partner in the company responsible for a significant ...

The Slums Kept Brazil’s Economy Going When World Was Falling Apart

OK, it was not really a rocket blastoff like The Economist showed on its ...

Belt-Tightening Won’t Be Loosened, Says Brazil’s New Finance Minister

After taking office, Tuesday, March 28, in the Planalto Palace in Brazilian capital BrasÀ­lia, ...

IATA Expels Varig and Brazilian Airline Stops Flying to 11 Overseas Destinations

The situation at Varig Brazilian Airlines has deteriorated substantially, today, June 21. For lack ...

Brazil Offers Paraguay a Loan But Not a Better Deal on Electricity

Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo, who is visiting Brazil, and his counterpart host Brazilian Luiz ...

For Brazil Land Reform May Be Key to Peace for Indians

The President of the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra), Rolf Hackbart, ...

Rewrite Your Books. Brazil Grew in 2003.

Brazil’s Minister of Finance, Antônio Palocci celebrated the economy’s “surprising” growth and pointed out ...