General Motors on Monday said it expected to see a rise in the sale of its vehicles in Brazil and increased export revenues from the country in 2004, Reuters reported.
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Jose Carlos Pinheiro Neto, the vice president of GM’s Brazilian unit, told the news agency he expected the company to sell 360,000 vehicles in Brazil in 2004 – the company forecasts sales of 300,000 vehicles this year, below the 325,000 sold in 2002.
According to Reuters, GM said it expected to earn $US1.3 billion from Brazilian exports in 2004, an improvement on the $1.2 billion it expects to make this year and the $1.0 billion it made in 2002.
But GM Brazil president Walter Wieland reportedly said the strength of Brazil’s currency, the real (BRBY), might make exports harder from the South American country, Reuters noted, adding that GM exports its Brazilian-made vehicles to other Latin American countries as well as China and the Middle East.
Reuters said the real has strengthened about 25% against the dollar since the start of the year to trade around the 2.80 per dollar mark as investors’ perceptions of Latin America’s biggest economy improved.
“Brazil has trouble exporting with the rate of 2.80 (per dollar),” Wieland told Reuters at the launch of a new pick-up model at a plant in the south of Brazil.
The news agency said the Brazilian GM operation is competing with the car company’s subsidiaries in Mexico and China for investment of $240 million from its head office.
Wieland reportedly said an ideal exchange rate for Brazilian car exports would be in the region of 3.10 reais per dollar to 3.20 reais per dollar.
Reuters noted that GM hopes to increase its 12% share of the Brazilian pick-up market with the new model, called the Montana which cost $125 million over 22 months to develop and bring to market.
