General Motors do Brasil

General Motors do Brasil Ltda.^[1]
Company type	Wholly owned subsidiary
Industry	Automotive
Founded	1925; 99 years ago
Headquarters	São Caetano do Sul, Brazil
Key people	Santiago Chamorro, (CEO)
Products	Automobiles, pickups
Brands	Chevrolet
Revenue	US$7.31 billion (2012)
Parent	General Motors
Website	chevrolet.com.br

General Motors do Brasil is the largest subsidiary of General Motors in South America, one of the oldest and largest car producers in Brazil.

Founded in 1925 and initially located in the historic district of Ipiranga, São Paulo, the company assembled cars using imported parts from the United States.

History

Inauguration of the General Motors Plant in São José dos Campos (SP) by President Juscelino Kubitschek, 1959

Initially operating in a rented warehouse, GM do Brasil opened its first plant in 1930 in São Caetano do Sul, São Paulo.

In 1958, a second factory was opened in São José dos Campos, officially inaugurated a year later by Juscelino Kubitschek, the President of Brasil at the time, for die casting and other cars assemblies.

GM introduced its first car in the country, the Chevrolet Opala, in 1968.

In 1973, GM launched the Chevrolet Chevette, which has accumulated sales exceeding 1.2 million units. It was replaced by the Chevrolet Corsa in 1994, the first economy car with electronic fuel injection in Brazil, after tests were conducted near Indaiatuba.

From 1968 until 2005, GM used Opel-developed cars badged as "Chevrolet".

In July 2000 launched the Industrial Complex of Gravataí in Rio Grande do Sul, one of the world's most modern factories.^[2]

After globalisation and selling of Opel to PSA and after Stellantis, vehicles like the Onix were made from project designed and imported from Saic-GM in Shanghai, China. Most designs came ready from Warren, mainly pickup trucks. Other brazilian own projects cars were the Chevrolet Agile, still based on Corsa Platform, Chevrolet Meriva, Chevrolet Kadett, Chevrolet Monza and Chevrolet Zafira, those from Opel projects, among others brazilian own studies.

In 2005, GM do Brasil sold a total of 365,259 vehicles, 21.3% of the Brazilian market. The percentage was 22.6% in the SUV and commercial segment. The company's total production reached 559,345 units when counting exports.

In 2005, exports reached a value of US$ 1.6 billion, for the shipment of 114,994 complete knock-down (CKD) units and 125,678 vehicles exported to some 40 countries around the world. The main market for exports was Mexico, followed by Argentina, Venezuela, South Africa and other Latin American countries.

In the social area, GM do Brasil focused activities through the General Motors Institute, created in 1993, its mission is to rescue the citizenship of children, youths and adults from poor communities, which are located especially close to industrial plants of the company. Its shares are primarily in education.

In 2019, GM do Brasil sold 475,684 vehicles, an increase of 10% over the previous calendar year, surpassing China in sales. The last time sales exceed the Asian country was 2013, when GM sold 643,100 units in Brazil.^[3]

In 2021, a huge investment of R$10 billion (US$1.86 billion) was made to improve manufacturing in São Paulo. The investment was first announced in 2019.^[4]^[5]^[6] Despite this, sales dropped 28.5% to 242,108 vehicles.^[7]^[8]

In December 2021, GM South America announced to hire around 250 engineers from various specialties to work mainly in the areas of the São Caetano do Sul Technological Centre, such as bodywork and structure, exterior, interior, chassis, engine, transmission, electronics, controllers, software and virtual simulation.^[9] At 2023 1100 Employees were dismissed. From 2024 to 2028, an investment plan of R$7 billion or US$1.4 billion is ongoing, US$350 million per year, with subside of Brazilian President, in order to review and update the models tooling products.^[10]