Mercedes-Benz to invest €600 million to increase Brazilian commercial vehicles production

Daimler Trucks plans to invest more than  €600 million to increase the production capacity of trucks, buses and components in the Mercedes-Benz plant of São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil. The plant is currently running at nearly full capacity, which means that further sales growth can only be accommodated by eliminating production bottlenecks or expanding manufacturing operations. The operations are scheduled to begin in 2009, said Gero Herrmann, head of Mercedes-Benz do Brasil..

The company aims to increase daily production of the plant by 25 per cent. The company also plans to optimise the production flexibility for a better reaction to market fluctuations in the future. The investment will also be used to increase the local content rate in the products, for modernisation of production processes and the improvement of the logistics system.

''To attend all these aims, the company will invest R$ 1.5 billion during the next three years'', explains Herrmann. Furthermore, in order to follow the increase of the local production capacity, Mercedes-Benz will also increase its number of employees, which presently employs more than 12,000 people. The definition of how many new jobs will be created is now being planned, he added.

Mercedes-Benz tops sales in the Brazilian truck market, having sold 22,778 units during the first seven months of the year, reaching a market share of 31 per cent. The company also led sales in 2007, closing the year with 31,166 trucks sold with a 31 per cent market share.

The company is also the leader in the bus segment. in 2008 the company sold 9,211 units in the Brazilian market, which represents a 50 per cent share. The company registered sales volume of over 12,600 units,  in 2007 to remain the market leader with a 52 per cent market share.

Mercedes-Benz do Brasil is the biggest exporter of commercial vehicles in Latin America. Its products are sold to more than 50 countries, all over Latin America and other continents. Among the major markets are Argentina, Chile, Peru, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, and Jordan. Last year, the company sold around 9,700 trucks and 9,400 buses to external markets.

The plant in São Bernardo do Campo has produced trucks and buses for more than 50 years. The company surpassed the milestone of 1,600,000 units produced since 1956, when it started its activities in Brazil. This is an unprecedented volume among the manufacturers of commercial vehicles in the country.

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