São Paulo – The new president of Brazil’s National Association of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (Anfavea, in the Portuguese acronym), General Motors Brazil’s Institutional Affairs director Luiz Moan Yabiku Júnior, said this Monday (22nd) that one of his goals as the head of Anfavea will be to boost auto exports.
At a press conference granted on occasion of his inauguration, Moan said he intends to have exports reach 1 million units a year by the end of his term, in 2016, in addition to increasing output to 5 million and setting new standards in technology, efficiency, and pricing. “When we get back to exporting (at past levels), that will mean we are back to being competitive,” he said.
Moan said the industry’s exports have been on a downward trend since 2005. In that year, 900,000 units were shipped abroad, according to Anfavea figures, a volume equivalent to 30% of the year’s total output. In 2012, 420,000 vehicles were exported from Brazil, i.e. 13% of total output. He said Brazil has lost customers due to high prices and because the country’s product is not competitive at the international level. The executive said the association is keen on turning this scenario around by negotiating tax breaks with the government and improving the national product.
The new Anfavea president said the organization is considering an export-specific project, which he nicknamed “Exportar Auto,” in a reference to the incentive program launched by Brazil’s federal government in 2011, dubbed Inovar Auto. The Inovar Auto program includes tax breaks for more efficient automobile models developed from ‘homegrown’ technologies. Moan said he has mentioned the project to Brazil’s minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Fernando Pimentel.
More output, more markets
Increasing exports is not the sole priority of the new Anfavea president. Moan said he will also work to strengthen the auto part industry, invest in more efficient, less environmentally harmful products, lower the industry’s tax burden, and increase national output.
“From 2004 to 2012, sales increased by 166%, from 1.4 million vehicles to 3.8 million per year. During that period, we have come to reach a wider range of social strata. We still have the potential and the perspectives for growth, but it should take place in a new market, and that is what Inovar Auto will bring about. We need vehicles that are more efficient, more in line with consumers’ demands. Over the next five years we will need five million cars [to be sold each year] in order to sustain our investment,” he said. Such investment, Moan said, should come out to R$ 60 million (US$ 29.8 million) from 2013 to 2017. From 2008 to 2012, the industry invested R$ 7 billion (US$ 3.4 billion).
The executive added that he will meet with delegates from the Brazilian Association of Auto Parts Manufacturers (Sindipeças) so that companies in this other sector will also increase production capacity and competitiveness. He also said Anfavea’s new administration will work to increase machinery production, which he said is not up to par with the industry’ capacity.
Moan will also preside over the National Union of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (Sinfavea) from 2013 to 2016. He is replacing Fiat Latin America president Cledorvino Belini as the Sinfavea and Anfavea president.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
