General Motors do Brasil’s Technology Centre in São Caetano do Sul city, São Paulo state, will lead development of GM’s worldwide midsize pick-up platform architecture.
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“We will use our ability to combine technology and low costs in vehicle projects”, said Ray Young, General Motors do Brasil president RayYoung.
The new midsize pick-up platform architecture will be used as the basis of future models for all GM brands in much the same way as the Kappa platform architecture is used for the Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky and Opel GT roadsters.
According to the automaker, the Brazilian centre will lead design the new pick-up but that does not mean the vehicle will be made first in Brazil.
Currently GM makes most of its mid-size pickups in Thailand and the US.
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By GlobalData“With our new global engineering system and new platform architecture project the place of manufacture no longer needs to be the place where the project is developed”, said General Motors’ Latin America, Africa and Middle East (LAAM) president Pedro Manuchakian, who is also engineering director of General Motors do Brasil.
Under its new global engineering system, GM wants its 12 engineering centres worldwide to work more closely with one another. Global centres in five countries – Brazil, the US, Germany, Australia and South Korea – lead the other centres.
“Each of the five global centres will be responsible for developing a specific type of platform architecture,” said Manuchakian.
The US centre will lead the development of full size pick-ups, large passenger cars and luxury cars. The German centre in Germany will be responsible for medium (eg Vectra) and small cars (Astra). South Korea will develop platform architecture for compact cars (eg Corsa) and Australia will lead on large cars with rear wheel drive (like its own Holden Commodore).
Preparing for its new global function, General Motors do Brasil will double the workforce at its technology centre from the present 600 engineers and designers to 1,200 by the end of 2007. The company also will invest $US30m to enlarge the facility and build new laboratories at its Cruz Alta Proving Ground.
However, the Brazilian technology centre is already working on a global project, developing the Hummer H3 for sale in European, Asian, Middle East and African markets.
Though it will be built in GM’s Struandale plant in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, the Brazilian technology centre has led work to adapt the vehicle to comply with European safety rules and local market preferences.
GM do Brasil calls the model H3G (the G means global) and has also developed right-hand drive and diesel models.
With the increase of global projects the Brazilian GM unit expects that work on international projects will represent 60% of activities in its technology centre by 2008.
Today, global services account for 40% of the engineering and design work.
Consequently, GM do Brasil expects huge growth in the exports of services. Last year, the unit sold about $US200m of services to other countries and expects to bill $US400m next year.
Rogério Louro
