© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The Stellantis logo on a company building in Velizy-Villacoublay, near Paris, France, February 1, 2022. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Stellantis NV expects to have the technologies needed to develop hybrid ethanol vehicles in Brazil by the end of this year, the automaker’s chief executive officer for South America said on Tuesday.
The initiative comes amid a broader drive for sustainability in the region, with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also saying on Tuesday that under his leadership, the country’s economy would be based on “finding alternatives for clean energy”.
Antonio Filosa said the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais would be the “epicenter” of ethanol hybrid cars for Stellantis, which has three plants in Brazil, two in Argentina and an industrial partnership in Uruguay.
“We launched the Bio-Electro project last year and now we are going to work internally to have the first technologies developed internally by the end of this year, and then bring them to the market when appropriate,” he told reporters. .
Local production of hybrid and electric vehicles is still concentrated in Asian companies such as Toyota and CAOA Chery, and China’s BYD is also considering setting up production in northeast Brazil.
Filosa said Stellantis also plans to make all-electric cars and cars that run on ethanol fuel cells there in the future, but ruled out building a new factory as the company opted to upgrade existing assembly lines.
Filosa’s comments came as Stellantis announced that it will launch a total of 43 vehicles from eight different brands in South America in the 2021-2025 period, with investments planned to reach more than 16 billion reais ($3.14 billion). ).
When asked about component shortages that have limited car production in recent years, Filosa said the situation had improved “a lot” but noted that a more normal scenario is yet to emerge from the second half of 2023. .
Car production in Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, is expected to rise 2.2% this year to 2.42 million units, according to automakers’ association Anfavea.
($1 = 5.0944 reais)
