Mensajepor Peor_es_nada » Mar Ago 31, 2010 12:37 pm
=DJ Brazil's Auto Industry Struggles To Keep Up With Demand
(This article was originally published Monday.)
By Paulo Winterstein Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--The world's fourth-largest auto market is set for another bumper year in 2010, but local manufacturers are struggling to keep up with demand for new cars and face increasing competition from imports.
Last year, Brazil became a net importer of cars for the first time in 13 years, and that looks set to continue in 2010.
A strong rebound from the global economic crisis has put more money into the pockets of Brazilians, and demand for cars has soared. Octavio de Barros, an economist at Bradesco bank, said he sees vehicle sales growing 10% next year, to 3.8 million units, after a similar 10% growth this year.
The local industry now believes total sales could top 5 million vehicles a year by 2014, and local manufacturers, the largest of which are all subsidiaries of foreign auto giants, are keen to ensure that efficiency and quality improvements are put in place to boost domestic production.
"We want to build where we sell," said Denise Johnson, president of GM do Brasil, at a conference in Sao Paulo on Monday. "Imports are growing, but we see imports as a way to reach a niche market. We need to make sure that our high-volume vehicles are made locally."
GM is the third-largest auto maker in Brazil, and its main competitors in the local market are Fiat SpA (FIATY, F.MI), Volkswagen AG (VLKAY, VOW.XE) and Ford Motor Co. (F), in first, second and fourth place, respectively.
Auto makers have said they will invest more than $11 billion between 2010 and the end of 2012 on new models, new technologies and expansion, according to the Brazilian auto manufacturers association, Anfavea.
GM is investing 5.4 billion Brazilian reals ($3.1 billion) over the next two years to expand production and improve quality. Imports accounted for less than 3% of GM's local sales in 2007, but has since jumped to more than 10%.
The broader industry is following the same trend, as about 16% of car, truck and buses sold last year were produced abroad. In 2005, 5% of vehicles were imported.
At the same time, exports by Brazilian car manufacturers have slumped, accounting for just 15% of production last year, down from 35% four years ago. High taxes, expensive raw materials, a strong currency and a lack of qualified labor are all pointed to as culprits, but the industry could be doing more, such as using technology to improve efficiency.
"Because raw materials make up a big part of the final product, many people focus on the high costs of that," said Leticia Costa, director of Prada Assessoria, a local consulting firm for the auto industry. "But there is a lack of competitiveness all along the supply chain."
High taxes add to costs, and that is unlikely to decrease as the government keeps spending, Costa said.
Paulo Bedran, a director at the Development, Industry and Commerce Ministry, said the government is looking for ways to provide cheaper funding for small auto parts makers.
"If we don't take care of the supply chain, we'll turn into a Belgium, just assembling cars" with imported parts, Bedran said.
The problems are even starker in the auto parts industry, which will be worth some BRL45 billion this year, of which about half will be imported, according to Ivan Ramalho, another ministry official. "I see that as a positive, for it shows that there is room for a lot of investment in Brazil," he said.
The industry, however, is keen to take its own steps to fix the problems.
"There is a lot of talk about taxes and the exchange rate, but we need to modernize plants and products," said Osias Galantine, purchasing director at Fiat in Brasil. "Production quantity and quality aren't keeping up" with growth in the consumer market, he said.
The Brazilian auto makers' travails, however, have been good news for the country's neighbors in the region, especially Argentina. Brazil imported 207,473 cars from Argentina last year, up 33% from 2008.
