Previsibility is the word of the moment for the automotive sector

By Alzira Rodrigues | 6/15/23 | Translated by Jorge Meditsch

Previsibility was the most mentioned word at Anfavea’s “Conducting the Future of Electrification in Brazil” seminary, which gathered the main Brazilian automotive sector executives on Wednesday, 6/14, in Brasília.

The event, where 40 different brands’ electrified vehicles were exhibited, was marked by the defense of a private initiative and government effort toward neo-industrialization and job generation. Anfavea’s president, Márcio de Lima Leite, was emphatic at its opening speech, saying that “the industry wants previsibility and legal certainty”.

According to the executive, Brazil must accelerate to not lag behind. “We must localize and produce. We want suppliers that invest in research”, said Lima Leite, who finished his speech by saying that Brazil’s future is eclectic, meaning that the country can take different ways toward electrification. “Each manufacturer has its technology. The important is Brazil’s development”.

At the opening ceremony, Alexandre Silveira, minister of Mines and Energy, reassured Brazil’s commitment to decarbonization, saying that the country has all that is needed to produce batteries not only for the internal market but also for other countries. “We want to work together’, he concluded.

At the end of the seminary, Brazil’s vice president and minister of Development, Industry and Commerce, Geraldo Alckmin, talked about the Brazilian agribusiness’ good moment and admitted that at this moment, the challenge is the industry. He said the government’s intention is to create conditions for the automotive sector to produce more than three million vehicles annually again.

“The currency rate is adequate, and the tax reform will help industry. Future taxes are falling, and we are convicted that the Selic rate will fall”, said the minister, remembering that the program of incentives to the sector is transitory, created to warm up the market while better financing conditions do not return.

In the panel “Our CEOs’ vision about electrification in 2035”, the last of the event, the word previsibility was mentioned many times, as well as the defense of working with the government to ensure different electrification technologies in the country.

Rafael Chang, president of Toyota do Brasil, emphasized the world’s pioneering technology of the hybrid with ethanol adopted in Brazil in the Corolla lineup: “The country can even export electrification technologies. There is no one better than other. What we need is previsibility to invest and competitiveness”.