CashNews.co
By Bernardo Caram
BRASILIA (Reuters) -Carmaker Stellantis will invest 30 billion reais ($6.07 billion) in Brazil between 2025 and 2030, it said on Wednesday, aiming to launch over 40 new cars and introduce hybrid-flex vehicles in the country.
The investment, announced shortly after a meeting between company executives and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, comes as the government tries to reignite the country’s industry.
Other automakers, such as GM, Volkswagen, Hyundai, and Toyota had already announced investments in the country.
Among Stellantis’ plans for Latin America’s largest economy is adding electrification technology to its flex-fuel models, which run both on gasoline and ethanol, Chief Executive Carlos Tavares said in a press conference.
The company’s next launch is scheduled for the second half of the year and will be a hybrid vehicle, he said.
Stellantis, which owns brands such as Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen, also said it plans to produce an electric vehicle in the country, though it did not give a timeline.
Tavares said the investment plan will follow Brazil’s Mover automotive program rules, which is set to give tax breaks to automakers that invest in sustainability and establish new obligations to reduce the industry’s environmental impact.
“It’s a pragmatic and clever program”, he said. “This alignment of interests between Brazil’s government and our company is essential”.
Stellantis, which owns three factories in the country, announced last month it was buying a controlling stake in Brazilian automotive services firm DPaschoal.
Brazil’s government says automakers, including Chinese firms BYD and GWM, which had recently arrived in the country, have already announced a total 65.3 billion reais in investments in the country for the next few years.
($1 = 4.9386 reais)
($1 = 0.9177 euros)
(Reporting by Bernardo Caram; Writing by Peter Frontini and Andre Romani, Editing by Franklin Paul and Steven Grattan)